Columbia  (Hntomitp 

mtyeCtipoOtogork 

THE  LIBRARIES 


Bequest  of 

Frederic  Bancroft 

1860-1945 


14.-,  S 


Biographic  Etchings 


.  OF  .  . 


MINISTERSandLAYMEN 


OF   THE  .  .  . 


Georgia  Conferences. 


BY 


W.  J.  SCOTT,  D.  D., 

Author  of  "  Lectures  and  Essays,"  "  The  Story  of  Two 
Civilizations,"  "  Historic  Eras,"  Etc. 


"  Your  fathers,  where  are  they?  and  the  prophets, 
do  they  live  forever? — Zech.,  \st chap.^th  verse. 


ATLANTA; 
The  Foort  &  Cavils  Co.,  P'jm  i^kJers. 


■ 


-  ••    ■  • 


1  ' 

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>     , 


93f< 


Copyrighted  1895,  by 
W.  J.  Scott. 


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* 

i  •    ■  •  .  .  .. 


• 


*        '         -  c   *•      « 


PREFACE. 

In  the  preparation  of  these  character  sketches  we 
decided  to  eliminate  the  usual  obituary  features. 

For  several  of  the  best  of  these  papers  I  am  in- 
debted to  the  kindness  of  my  ministerial  brethren. 
Dr.  Hinton's  sketch  of  President  Bass,  Dr.  Mixon's 
sketch  of  Dr.  Anderson,  Dr.  Heidt's  sketch  of 
Josiah  Lewis,  Sr.,  Dr.  Cook's  sketch  of  Presi- 
dent Ellison,  Dr.  Glenn's  sketch  of  Dr.  Potter, 
Gen.  Evans'  sketch  of  Benjamin  Harvey  Hill,  Dr. 
Christian's  sketch  of  Dr.  Clark,  are  one  and  all  ad- 
mirable papers,  which  contribute  greatly  to  the  in- 
terest of  the  volume.  Without  their  timely  assist- 
ance I  hardly  see  how  I  could  have  accomplished 
my  work.  God  bless  them  abundantly  for  their 
"labor  of  love." 

I  may  say  quite  as  much  o  f  that  beautiful  sketch 
of  my  dear  old  friend,  Walter  R.Branham,  written 
by  a  committee  consisting  of  Bros.  M.  S.  Wil- 
liams, H.  H.  Parks  and  W.  D.  Shea.  I  had  pub- 
lished a  sketch  of  my  own  in  our  church  paper,  but 
I  ventured  to  substitute  the  committee's  work  for 


ij-  %  V- 1 


IV 


my  own,  as  on  some  accounts  it  was  more  satis- 
factory to  myself  and  probably  will  be  to  the 
reader. 

It  is,  to  me,  a  matter  of  profound  regret  that 
for  lack  of  space  I  have  been  forced  to  omit  a 
number  of  ministers  and  laymen  whose  names  de- 
served recognition.  In  a  second  edition  it  is  the 
purpose  of  the  author  and  publisher  to  supply  this 
lack  should  the  demand  warrant  its  publication. 


BIOGRAPHIC  ETCHINGS 

OF 

MINISTERS   AND    LAYMEN 


LOVICK  PIERCE,    THE  NESTOR    OF    GEOR- 
GIA   METHODISM. 

When  the  history  of  American  Methodism  shall 
be  fully  written,  few  names  will  occupy  a  more 
prominent  place  than  that  of  Lovick  Pierce. 

This  illustrious  minister  sprung  from  obscurity, 
and  his  educational  advantages  were  exceedingly 
limited.  In  despite  of  this,  however,  he  early 
reached  the  highest  distinction  as  a  preacher.  It 
is  true  that  he  never  attained  to  Episcopal  honors, 
nor  did  he  ever  wield  a  commanding  influence  in 
the  General  Conference.  Not  less  than  Edmund 
Burke,  he  was  ill  adapted  to  the  leadership  of  de- 
liberative assemblies. 

Indeed,  it  is  but  just  to  say  that  he  was  some- 
what deficient  in  the  faculty  of  organization,  and 
possessed  only  moderate  administrative  ability. 
As  Whitfield,  the  prince  of  pulpit  orators,  founded 
no  sect,  so  Lovick  Pierce  consummated  no  great 
reform  in  the  economy  of  Methodism.  Eminently 
conservative,  as  he  was,  in  reference  to  the  funda- 
mental doctrines  of  the  church,    he  was  evermore 


Z  UIOGRAPHIC     ETCHINGS 

full  of  plans  for  the  improvement  of  its  polity. 
Nearly  all  of  these  proposed  reforms  were  lost  in 
the  committee  on  revisals. 

We  come  now,  however,  to  speak  of  Lovick 
Pierce,  simply  as  a  preacher  of  the  everlasting 
gospel ;  and  in  this  respect  he  had  few  equals, 
and  no  superiors  in  the  American  pulpit.  He  had 
neither  the  thorough  scholarship,  nor  the  ana- 
lytical power  of  Stephen  Olin ;  John  Summer- 
field  surpassed  him  greatly  in  the  mere  art  of 
persuasion.  Bishop  Bascorabe  excelled  him  in 
the  thunderous  oratory  that  reminds  us  of  an  ocean 
swell.  Yet  as  a  preacher,  in  the  Pauline  accepta- 
tion of  the  term,  he  was  not  a  whit  behind  the 
chief  est  of  his  contemporaries. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  say,  definitely,  wherein 
lay  the  secret  of  his  immense  pulpit  power.  It  cer- 
tainly was  not  due  to  the  vastness  of  his  literary 
resources,  for  these  were  circumscribed  ;  nor  could 
it  be  attributed  to  anything  that  savored  of  sensa- 
tionalism, for  no  man  despised  more  heartily  the 
tricks  of  the  pulpit  mountebank,  who  is  more  intent 
on  winning  applause  than  on   winning  souls. 

Somewhat  of  his  rare  excellence  as  a  preacher 
may  be  justly  ascribed  to  his  imposing  presence. 
His  voice  was  a  natural,  not  an  acquired,  orotund, 
his  articulation  was  uniformly  distinct,  and  his 
modulation  perfect.  His  manner  of  delivery  was 
sometimes  vehement,  but  never  offensively  bois- 
terous.   Add   to   all  this  what  the  French  term, 


OF    MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  6 

"Onction,"    and    the   old  Methodists,   ''Liberty," 
and}rou  have  our  idea  of  his  elocution. 

One  grand  element  of  his  success  was  his  apos- 
tolic saintliness  of  character.  He  believed  and 
preached  the  doctrine  of  holiness,  as  handed  down 
to  us  by   Fletcher  and  the  Weslej^s. 

With  him,  however,  it  was  something  more  than 
a  mere  theor}7,  he  illustrated  it  in  his  daily  life.  I 
have  yet  to  see  the  man  who  more  studiously 
avoided  every  colloquial  impropriety,  whether 
slang  or  vulgarity,  who  was  more  prayerful  in 
spirit,  and  more  circumspect  in  all  his  deportment. 
While,  at  times,  he  had  an  air  of  moroseness,  there 
underlay7  this  harsh  exterior  a  sympathy  as  genial 
as  the  breath  of  spring-time,  and  as  far-spreading 
as  the  blue  sky  above  us.  His  charity  had  no 
bounds.  Never  was  there  a  more  appreciative 
listener  to  the  commonplaces  of  the  pulpit  or  a 
more  enraptured  hearer  of  the  platitudes  of  com- 
mencement orators  and  essayists. 

Next  to  his  personal  purity  and  thorough  con- 
secration to  his  ministerial  work,  was  his  mastery 
of  the  Holy  Scriptures.  The  Bible  was  the  armory 
whence  he  drew  the  weapons,  which,  on  many  a 
hard-fought  field,  wrere  mighty  to  the  pulling 
down  of  strongholds.  We  would  not  intimate 
that  he  was  neglectful  of  polite  literature.  He 
was  indeed  familiar  with  the  standard  English 
authors,  and  was  always  abreast  with  the  current 
phases  of  philosophy. 


4  BIOGRAPHIC     ETCHINGS 

But,  beyond  all  else,  he  studied  the  Bible — not 
detached  portions,  as  the  manner  of  some  is,  but 
every  part  and  parcel  of  it.  He  knew  the  Penta- 
teuch as  well  as  the  four  gospels.  He  was  as  fully 
conversant  with  the  weird  visions  of  Ezekiel,  and 
the  mystic  imagery  of  the  Apocalypse,  as  with 
the  simpler   Messianic  prophecies  of  Isaiah. 

He  had  well  nigh  committed  to  memory  the 
Psalms  of  David,  yet  he  was  hardly  less  familiar 
with  the  Proverbs  of  Solomon.  If  any  portion  of 
the  Divine  Revelation  was  more  highly  esteemed 
and  carefully  studied  than  anv  other,  it  was 
the  Epistles  of  St.  Paul.  His  understanding  of 
the  Pauline  system  was  critically  exact  and  his 
exegesis  of  the  Epistles  to  the  Romans  and  He- 
brews was  more  than  masterly,  it  partook  of  the 
supernatural.  With  such  resources  as  these,  it  was 
no  matter  of  marvel  that  he  was  a  master  of  as- 
semblies. 

Only  secondary  to  these  two  elements  wras  his 
wonderful  gift  as  an  extemporaneous  speaker. 
He  had,  as  was  well  understood,  an  invincible 
aversion  to  written  sermons.  Now  and  then  he 
has  been  known  to  inveigh  against  them  with  an 
earnestness  that  left  no  room  for  doubt  as  to  the 
strength  of  his  convictions.  Let  it  not  be  supposed, 
however,  that  he  at  all  countenanced  the  notion  of 
extemporaneous  thinking.  On  the  contrary,  he 
was  diligeut  in  preparation  for  his  pulpit  work. 


OF   MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  O 

I  have  personal  knowledge  on  this  point,  on  more 
than  one  occasion.  Still  he  had  so  trained  himself 
to  extemporaneous  speaking  that  his  spoken  style 
was  far  better  than  his  written  style.  The  former 
was  terse,  at  times  epigrammatic,  always  spark- 
ling; the  latter  was  labored,  involved,  and,  fre- 
quently turgid.  It  is  to  be  deplored  that  he  did 
not  cultivate  writing  until  advanced  life.  Rich- 
ard Baxter,  a  laborious  pastor,  and  a  life-long  in- 
valid, left  material  for  forty  folio  volumes;  Dr. 
Pierce  scarcely  left  sufficient  material  for  a  single 
duodecimo. 

During  his  earlier  ministry7  his  toil  and  travel  were 
immense.  Like  St.  Paul,  he  was  in  perils  both  in 
the  city  and  the  wilderness.  His  districts  embraced 
a  larger  geographical  area  than  the  Apostle  trav- 
ersed in  his  first  missionary  tours.  These  abun- 
dant labors  left  him  but  little  opportunity  for 
striethT  literary  work,  and  furnish  ample  apology 
for  his  apparent  shortcomings.  Besides,  he  fell 
on  evil  days,  when  Methodism  was  everywhere 
spoken  against;  when  the  spirit  of  a  confessor  and 
the  courage  of  a  martyr  were  needed  to  confront 
the  enemies  of  Methodism.  Luckily  for  himself  and 
the  church,  he  was  cast  in  the  same  heroic  mould 
as  Francis  Asbury  and  William  McKendree.  He 
faltered  not  for  a  single  moment  in  the  face  of 
opposition,  but  steered  right  onward  to  the  goal. 
The  usual  order  of  Divine  Providence  is,  "That 
one  soweth  and  another  reapeth,"  but  he  survived 


6  RIOGRAPHIC     ETCHINGS 

this  era  of  depression,  and  lived  to  see  Method- 
ism the  dominant  religious  organization  of  this 
continent  and  the  leading  religious  denomination 
of  the  Protestant  world.  It  was,  indeed,  gratify- 
ing to  witness  the  distinguished  consideration  with 
which  he  was  treated  in  his  old  age,  in  all  the 
annual  and  general  conferences  of  the  church. 
This  was  no  constrained  tribute  to  rank ,  or  wealth , 
or  power;  but  the  spontaneous  recognition  of 
intellectual  and  moral  worth  of  the  highest  order. 

Dr.  Pierce  did  not  lag  superfluous  on  the  stage. 
He  wrote  or  preached  almost  to  his  dying  day.  It 
is  true  that  the  last  weeks  of  his  life  were  marked 
by  great  nervous  prostration.  At  times  he  seemed 
bowed  down  with  sorrow,  but  the  reaction  was 
always  speedy.  It  was  in  one  of  his  jubilant 
moods  he  sent  that  message  to  the  churches,  "Say 
to  the  brethren  I  am  lying  just  outside  the  gates  of 
Heaven."  An  utterance  worthy  to  be  mentioned 
in  the  same  breath  with  Paul's  exclamation  in  the 
depths  of  the  Mamertine  prison,  "I  am  now  ready 
to  be  offered."  Not  less  inspiring  than  the  last 
words  of  Wesley,  "the  best  of  all  is,  God  is  with 
us." 

Not  a  great  while  before  his  departure  it  was 
my  privilege  to  visit  and  talk  with  him  in  his 
death-chamber.  In  response  to  my  enquiry  about 
his  health,  he  said:  "I  am  lying  here  a  wreck  upon 
the  coast  of  time,  trying  to  look  into  the  eternal 
future."     It  is  somewhat   singular  that  the  great 


OF   MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  7 

Webster  used  almost  this  identical  language  to  a 
friend  during  his  last  illness.  That  friend  replied  : 
''Say  not,  Mr.  Webster,  a  wreck,  but  a  pyramid  on 
the  coast  of  time."  My  reply  was  different ;  I  said: 
"Doctor,  for  many  years  you  have  been  getting 
ready  for  this  hour."  After  a  little  conversation 
his  eyes  brightened,  and  he  said:  "I  have  some 
well-matured  views  on  the  subject  of  faith  which 
I  desire  to  submit  to  you."  I  said  :  "I  have  but  a 
little  while  to  remain,  as  I  must  leave  on  the  next 
train."  He  glanced  at  the  clock  and  said:  "I  see 
you  haven't  sufficient  time  to  hear  me."  He,  how- 
ever, gave  me  an  outline  of  his  views,  and  I  urged 
him  to  have  them  written  and  published  for  the 
edification  of  the  church.  Thereupon  he  gave  me 
his  blessing,  and  I  withdrew.  He  lived  but  a  few 
weeks  after  this  interview.  There  is  a  beautiful 
fitness,  or  rather  I  ought  to  say  a  wise  Providence, 
in  the  death-scenes  of  great  and  good  men.  Elijah, 
the  wild-eyed  Tishbite,  who  rebuked  kings  and 
smote  false  prophets  and  idolatrous  priests  with 
the  edge  of  the  sword,  must  needs  have  a  chariot 
of  flame  and  steeds  of  fire  to  bear  him  aloft  to  the 
Paradise  of  God.  It  was  a  fitting  close  to  a  most 
stormy  career.  But  for  Lovick  Pierce  there  was 
appointed  a  more  quiet  hour.  Calmly,  he  lay  down 
to  his  final  rest.  He  nestled  his  weary  head  on  the 
bosom  of  Jesus,  and  with  hardly  a  pang  or  a 
struggle,  his  ransomed  spirit  went  "sweeping 
through  the  gates,"  to  his  exceeding  great  reward. 


8  BIOGRAPHIC     ETCHINGS 

How  broad  the  contrast  between  such  a  de- 
parture and  that  of  Cardinal  Wolsey,  who  was 
abandoned  in  his  old  age  by  his  sovereign  because 
of  his  refusal  to  sanction  his  matrimonial  in- 
fidelities. 

Lear,  when  he  trod  alone  the  blasted  heath 
amidst  the  pelting  of  a  pitiless  midnight  storm 
was  not  in  a  more  sorrowful  plight  than  this  illus- 
trious ecclesiastic — when  after  a  wearisome  day's 
travel  he  approached  the  postern  gate  of  Leicester 
Abbey . 

Addressing  the  Abbot,  he  said  : 

"Father  Abbot,  an  old  man,  broken  in  the  Storms  of  State 
Comes  to  lay  his  bones  among  ye;  A  little  earth  for  pity's 
sake." 

Not  many  hours  after  his  arrival  he  died  with  no 
attendant  but  an  obscure  monk  who  ministered  to 
him  the  sacrament  of  the  dying. 

But  yesterday  he  had  as  the  motto  of  his  signet 
ring  "Ego  et  rex  raeus."  "Now  lies  he  there  and 
none  so  poor  as  to  do  him  reverence." 

What  think  ye  of  the  cardinal  and  the  preacher? 
How  apposite  the  language  of  David:  "I  have 
seen  the  wicked,  in  great  power,  spreading  him- 
self like  a  green  bay -tree,  yet  he  passed  away  and 
lo  !  he  was  not ;  yea,  I  sought  for  him  and  he  could 
not  be  found.  Mark  the  perfect  man  and  be- 
hold the  upright,  for  the  end  of  that  man  is  peace." 


OF   MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  9 


JESSE  BORING— THE  SALVATOR  ROSA  OF 

THE  PULPIT. 

The  life  of  Jesse  Boring,  if  fully  and  graphical^ 
written,  would  read  like  a  romance.  His  was 
an  adventurous  spirit;  hardly  less  so  than 
that  of  Francis  Xavier,  the  apostle  of  the  Indies. 
Nor  was  his  life  less  eventful  than  the  Episcopal 
career  of  Francis  Asbury,  the  pioneer  bishop  of 
the  United  States.  It  was  no  foolish  boasting  but 
simple  matter  of  fact,  when  on  one  notable  oc- 
casion he  exclaimed  on  the  conference  floor: 
"Bishop,  I  am  the  founder  of  five  annual  con- 
ferences, and  I  have  the  right  to  be  heard  in  this 
or  any  other  ecclesiastical  presence." 

This  remarkable  man,  with  the  exception  of 
Bishop  Capers — whom  I  had  heard  preach  in  my 
childhood — was  the  first  of  the  great  lights  of  the 
Methodist  pulpit  to  whom  I  had  ever  listened.  It 
was  some  time  in  the  thirties  at  the  old  Harris 
camp-ground,  of  which  Uncle  Dick  Dozier  was  the 
presiding  genius,  and  of  whom  the  rude  boys  of 
that  vicinity  had  a  most  wholesome  dread.  There 
were  present,  at  the  time,  such  other  notabilities 
as  James  Datinelly  and  Samuel  K.  Hodges,  but 
Jesse  Boring  was  the  cynosure  of  all  eyes.  Even 
at  that  early  period,  he  was  physically  feeble, 
seemingly  almost  a  wreck.    At  the   Sunday   night 


10  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

service  he  delivered  a  characteristic  appeal  to  the 
Impenitent  that  captured  the  congregation,  and 
caused  the  sturdiest  sinner  to   quake   with   alarm. 

Many  years  elapsed  before  I  again  heard  this  great 
preacher,  whose  matter  and  manner  were  so  un- 
like any  man  of  his  generation.  Meanwhile  his 
reputation  had  become  conneetional  and  to  him 
was  committed  the  task  of  planting  Southern 
Methodism  on  the  Pacific  coast.  One  of  the  old 
Forty-niners,  who  had  often  met  him  in  those 
years  of  terrible  exposure  and  hardship,  spoke  of 
him  as  the  bravest  and  truest  man  he  had  ever 
known.  He  assured  me  that  the  most  desperate 
gamblers  of  Sacramento  and  San  Jose,  reverenced, 
but  feared  this  Boanerges  of  Methodism.  The 
seeds  planted  by  Doctor  Boring  did  not  instantly 
spring  up,  but  watered  by  the  tears  of  Fitzgerald, 
Bigham,  Aleck  Wynn  and  the  Simmons  brothers, 
they  were  gradually  quickened  into  life.  The  inter- 
vention, however,  of  the  civil  war,  which  isolated 
the  California  mission  from  the  mother  church, 
well-nigh  destroyed  its  vitality. 

But  after  these  years  of  slow  development,  there 
is  now  a  flattering  prospect  that  under  the  gallant 
leadership  of  Bishop  Fitzgerald  our  Southern 
Methodism  will  yet  possess  a  large  area  of  terri- 
tory in  both  Calif ornias.  If  the  "saints  in  light" 
take  knowledge  of  earthly  happenings,  how  must 
the  old  Doctor  have  rejoiced  when  the  missionary 

rain,  some  }^ears  ago,  sped  its  way,  with  singing 


OF   MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  11 

and  shouting,  across  the  continent  to  its  destina- 
tion at  Los  Angeles. 

It  will  be  remembered  by  the  older  Methodists > 
that  after  his  California  adventures,  Dr.  Boring 
was  transferred  to  Texas,  with  his  headquarters 
alternately  at  San  Antonio  and  Galveston.  At 
both  places  he  did  much  to  organize  Methodism  for 
the  aggressive  work  which  it  has  since  so  well  and 
wisely  prosecuted  until  the  church  in  all  that 
vast  region,  has  become  an  immense,  spiritual  fed- 
eration of  a  half  dozen  annual  conferences. 

While  stationed  at  Galveston  he  had  one  of 
those  remarkable  experiences  which  have  marked 
several  stages  of  his  ministry. 

Starting  in  the  Caribbean  sea,  a  typical  cyclone 
swept  with  its  uttermost  fury  the  entire  gulf  coast, 
from  Key  West  to  Vera  Cruz.  At  Galveston  it 
was  especially  severe,  submerging  very  much  of 
the  city  and  island.  As  the  pious  /Eneas  bore 
upon  his  shoulders  the  aged  Anchises,  from  the 
flames  of  Troy,  so  Dr.  Boring  carried  in  his  arms 
his  frail  wife,  through  that  dreadful  midnight 
flood  to  a  place  of  safety. 

Leaving  these  "moving  accidents  by  flood  and 
field,"  we  come  to  speak  more  at  length  of  his  pul- 
pit power. 

Poetry  and  painting  are  in  no  small  degree  kin- 
dred arts.  Some  one  has  said  of  Teremv  Tavlor 
that  he  was  "the  Shakespeare  of  the  English  pul- 
pit."    Why  may  not  I  be  justified   in   saying  Bor- 


12  BIOGRAPHIC     ETCHINGS 

ing,  at  his  best,  was  the  Salvator  Rosa  of  the 
American  pulpit?  His  intense  earnestness,  his 
startling  emphasis  of  speech  and  gesture,  his 
sepulchral  intonations  of  voice,  specially  fitted 
him  for  painting  the  darker  side  of  human  destiny. 
Who  that  once  heard  his  exposition  of  the  parable 
of  Dives  and  Lazarus  can  ever  forget  his  portrait- 
ure of  that  heartless  voluptuary,  who  was  more 
neglectful  of  the  beggar  lying  at  his  gate  than 
were  the  dogs  that  followed  him  in  the  chase.  It 
was  enough  to  freeze  the  marrow  in  our  bones. 
What  wonder  that  upon  one  occasion,  in  Colum- 
bus, when  he  was  preaching  on  the  general  judg- 
ment, many  of  the  congregation  fled  terror-stricken 
from  the  sanctuary?  Said  one  who  was  present, 
"The  scene  baffled  description.  The  atmosphere 
seemed  stifling,  the  lights  burned  dim  and  for  one, 
I  momentarily  expected  to  hear  the  'crack  of 
doom.'  "  In  all  this  there  was  no  trick  of  oratory. 
It  wras  the  simple  grandeur  of  the  theme  and  the 
terrific  earnestness  of  the  speaker.  Not  a  printed 
line  of  this  great  sermon  has  been  preserved,  but 
the  tradition  of  it  will  linger  for  another  hundred 
years. 

I  have  heard  many  great  pulpit  orators  in  their 
best  moods— what  we  might  call  their  times  of 
plenary  inspiration.  I  was  caught  up  almost  to 
the  third  heaven  of  joyousness  while  listening  to 
Marvin  on  "Christ  and  the  Church."  My  nerves 
fairly  tingled  when  I  heard  Bishop  Pierce   on  "the 


OF   MINISTERS   AND    LAYMEN.  13 

Second  Coming  of  Christ,"  years  ago  at  the  Macon 
Annual  Conference.  Indeed  I  have  heard  not- 
able sermons  from  men  of  less  renown  and  later 
date,  but  never  heard  a  more  powerful  discourse 
than  one  by  Dr.  Boring  at  the  Tabernacle  camp- 
ground, Sumter  county,  Georgia,  1858.  His  topic 
was  the  obstacles  to  personal  salvation,  based  on 
the  question,  "Lord,  aretherefew  that  be  saved?" 
He  was  in  his  best  estate  spiritually,  intellectually, 
and  we  might  add  physically.  As  he  proceeded 
to  show  the  difficulties,  the  narrowness  of  the 
way,  the  straightness  of  the  gate,  the  majesty  of 
the  divine  law,  and  the  inexorableness  of  its  de- 
mands, the  wiles  of  the  devil,  the  seductions  of 
the  flesh,  the  glamor  of  worldliness,  it  looked  like 
heaping  Ossa  on  Pelion  until  the  mighty  moun- 
tain barrier  rose  heaven-high,  with  its  frowning 
crags  and  steep   acclivities. 

It  occurred  to  me  that  Hannibal's  passage  of 
the  Alps  before  there  was  a  St.  Cenis  tunnel  was 
an  easy  matter  compared  with  the  task  set  before 
the  Christian,  in  his  heavenward  aspirations. 
When  he  reached  the  climax  of  his  argument  a 
breathless  awe  pervaded  the  congregation.  Not 
a  few  of  them  seemed  half  paralyzed  with  these 
master  strokes  of  oratory.  But  suddenly  pausing 
for  a  single  instant,  he  exclaimed  in  a  jubilant 
tone,  "Blessed  be  God— there  is  still  a  ray  of  hope 
that  comes  to  us  from  Calvary."  The  transition 
was  so  abrupt  and  inspiring  that  I  almost  un- 


II  BIOGRAPHIC     ETCHINGS 

consciously  cried  out,  "  Hallelujah  " — to  which  Dr. 
Tom  Stewart  vigorously  responded,  Amen! 
Whereupon  a  wave  of  exultation  passed  over  the 
great  assembly  and  the  veil  was  lifted.  Nearly 
twenty  years  later  I  asked  him  to  repeat  this  ser- 
mon in  my  pulpit.  He  did  so,  but  while  the  ser- 
mon was  still  admirable  in  its  leading  features,  he 
himself  realized  that  it  had  lost  a  measure  of  its 
old-time  force  and  fervor. 

Some  of  his  best  pulpit  and  platform  work  was 
done  while  he  was  representing  the  Orphans'  Home 
enterprise  in  various  parts  of  the  connection. 

The  matter  lay  near  his  heart,  and  in  the  next 
century  it  will  be  rated  as  the  greatest  of  his 
ministerial  achievements. 

I  was  present  when  he  introduced  the  orphanage 
question  in  South  Georgia.  He  met  with  serious 
opposition.  Some  of  the  conference  leaders  seemed 
reluctant  to  embark  in  the  enterprise,  but  he  car- 
ried the  question  by  one  of  those  masterful  ap_ 
peals  for  which  he  was  distinguished. 

It  is  no  longer  an  open  question,  and  former  dif- 
ferences should  be  buried.  We  must  needs  have, 
at  no  distant  day,  a  well  prepared  biography  of 
this  great  man— not  ponderous,  but  concise  and 
spirited.  George  Smith,  or  Sasnett,  or  Elder  Big- 
ham  could  do  good  work  on  this  line. 

He  once  urged  me  to  edit  a  volume  of  his  ser- 
mons, which  I  declined  to  undertake  because  of 
other  pressing  engagements.     I   would  have  been 


OF   MINISTERS   AND    LAYMEN.  15 

disposed  to  decline  partly  for  his  own  sake.  I 
greatly  question  the  practicability  of  reproducing 
in  cold  type  the  distinctive  utterances  which  made 
his  continental  reputation. 

Robert  Hall  never  but  in  a  single  instance  had  a 
published  sermon  that  was  worthy  of  his  fame. 
Preachers  like  William  Jay  and  Charles  Haddon 
Spurgeon  could  stand  the  test,  but  few  others 
besides  them.  It  would  be  an  easier  undertaking 
to  imprison  a  sunbeam  or  to  paint  the  perfume 
of  a  violet  than  to  give  an  adequate  idea  of  Whit- 
field's or  Bossuet's  oratory  by  that  curious  con- 
trivance, the  lineograph.  Edison's  phonograph 
givesthe  minutest  tones  of  the  Marsellaise  as  ren- 
dered by  the  United  States  Marine  Band,  but  the 
invention  comes  too  late  to  perpetuate  the  oratory 
of  the  demigods  of  the  pulpit  and  platorm  of  by- 
gone generations. 


JAMES  E.  EVANS, 

THE    MODEL    PASTOR. 

As  an  all  round  preacher  I  have  not  known  the 
superior  of  James  E.  Evans.  He  wavS  not  a  genius, 
but  pre-eminently  a  man  of  affairs. 

Considered  as  a  stationed  preacher  -a  presiding 
elder — as  a  member  of  annual  and  general  confer- 


16  BIOGRAPHIC     ETCHINGS 

ence    boards— organizer    of    circuits — builder    of 
churches   and  colleges,  he  headed   the  list  of  my 
conference  acquaintances.     He  was  not  an  orator, 
and  yet  he  was  not  lacking  in  a  boisterous  elo- 
quence that  captured  the  multitude.    He  was  not 
a  logician,  and  yet  he  routed  opponents   in  debate 
by  the  score.     In  visiting  from  house  to   house 
and   in  keeping  accounts  he   was  next   to   Haber- 
sham J.  Adams.     Here  we  might  leave  the  matter, 
and  yet  it  is  proper  that  I  should  enter  more  into 
details  concerning  this  wonderfully  versatile  man. 
Alfred  Mann,    long    ago   speaking    of    Brother 
Evans,  said  to  me,  "Evans   is   a   well-conditioned 
man."    Not  a  little  of  his  phenomenal  success  was 
due  to   his   superb   physique.     His   step,   until   he 
was  nearly  seventy,   was   elastic,  his   pulse  beat 
was  equable,  and  as  a  sleeper  he  was  not   a   whit 
behind  Webster,  who  boasted  that  he  slept  soundly 
after  Hayne's  reply  to  him  in  the  Senate  cham- 
ber.   I   have    been    with   him    at  camp-meetings, 
where  he  would  sing  and  shout  and  exhort  until  ten 
o'clock,  seldom   later,  when  he  would  go    to    the 
preachers'  tent — quietly  undress,  saying  his  pray- 
ers— go  to  bed,  and  while  the  battle  at  the  stand 
was  still  raging  would  in  five  minutes  be  as  soundly 
asleep  as   a  healthy  boy  after  his  evening  romp. 
No  insomnia  about  him — how  we  envied  him   his 
gift.      His   appetite  never  flickered   at   the   most 
frugal  board.    He  had   some  relish  for  dainties, 
but  if  they  were  not   within   reach   he  could   fare 


OF    MINISTERS   AND    LAYMEN.  17 

.sumptuously  on  hog  and  hominy.  As  for  dyspep- 
sia ailments  he  knew  as  little  of  them  as  of  sum- 
mer vacations — neither  of  them,  indeed,  was 
known  to  his  ministerial  vocabulary.  Eupepsy 
was  his  normal  condition — his  liver  aplomb,  and 
his  stomach  in  good  working  order.  Let  it  not 
be  inferred  that  he  was  a  gourmand,  on  the  con- 
trary he  was  rather  abstemious  and  scrupulous 
in  his  observance  of  the  quarterly  fast.  He  was 
an  anti-tobacconist  of  the  straitest  sect,  and  made 
no  bills  with  the  apothecary. 

I  remember  once  when  he  was  staying  with  us 
at  the  Milledgeville  parsonage,  he  was  somewhat 
ailing.  After  much  persuasion  I  got  him  to  take 
a  single  dose  of  medicine.  This  treatment  relieved 
him  greatly,  so  that  he  preached  a  morning  ser- 
mon of  remarkable  power.  A  good  "pulpit  sweat" 
completed  the  cure,  so  that  he  was  in  good  plight 
when  the  dinner  hour  arrived. 

By  every  visible  token  he  might  have  lived  a 
hundred  years,  but  he  died  younger  than  Boring 
or  Lovick  Pierce. 

Brother  Evans  was  not  a  scholar  in  the  pres- 
ent acceptation  of  that  term,  yet  he  was  a  reader 
of  many  books.  Especially  was  he  familiar  with 
the  standard  literature  of  early  Methodism. 
Wesley's  sermons  he  had  almost  committed  to 
memory — and  he  had  Fletcher's  Checks  at  his 
tongue's  end.  He  made  it  a  matter  of  conscience 
to  study  the  discipline  and  our  authorized  Hymnal. 


18  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

In  a  word,  by  reading  and  absorption  as  well,  he 
acquired  a  large  fund  of  miscellaneous  informa- 
tion which  he  handled  to  advantage  in  the  pulpit. 
As  a  conference  preacher  he  was  most  esteemed  as 
a  revivalist  and  pastor  in  its  old-time  signification. 
In  his  younger  days  he  was  a  flaming  evangelist, 
and  the  conversions  under  his  ministry  were  num- 
bered by  the  thousand.  His  singing  was  one  ele- 
ment of  his  strength.  He  was,  however,  his  own 
.Excell  and  Sankey.  for  while  he  knew  but  little 
of  music  as  an  art,  he  had  a  voice  of  vast  compass 
and  exceeding  sweetness.  He  knew  just  when  and 
where  to  bring  in  "  Wrestling  Jacob"  and  "Amaz- 
ing Grace"  and  the  best  of  the  camp-meeting  melo- 
dies. The  masses  of  his  day  preferred  such  sing- 
ing to  the  "fugue  tunes"  and  other  operatic  airs 
;so  much  in  vogue  with  fashionable  church  choirs. 
To  this  gift  of  song  he  added  the  gifts  of  prayer 
and  exhortation  in  a  notable  degree.  In  the  former 
he  might  be  classed  with  Sam  Anthony  and  John 
P.  Duncan  ;  in  the  latter  he  was  almost  without  a 
peer,  unless  amongst  the  old-fashioned  laity,  like 
Uncle  limmie  Stewart  and  MatthewT  Rvlander  of 
Southwestern  Georgia.  In  his  happiest  mood 
these  hortatory  appeals  were  punctuated  by  amens 
and  hallelujahs  from  the  enraptured  congregation. 
But  perhaps  his  greatest  distinction  was  his 
house  to  house  visitation.  In  Augusta,  Savan- 
nah, Charleston,  Columbus  and  Macon  the  whole 
population   in  this  way  felt  his   magnetic   touch. 


OF    MINISTERS    AND    LAYMEN.  19 

Man}7  a  time,  even  at  the  dead  of  night  during 
seasons  of  pestilence,  did  his  ponderous  footfall 
wake  the  slumbering  echoes  of  Green  and  Broad 
and  Bull  and  other  less  aristocratic  quarters, 
as  he  hurried  to  the  bedside  of  dying  saint  or  re- 
pentant sinner.  At  this  point  the  Methodism 
of  today  has  sensibly  weakened.  Nor  has  this  lack 
of  apostolic  service — witness  Paul  at  Ephesus — 
been  supplied  by  more  elaborate  pulpit  prepara- 
tion. If  usefulness  is  the  end  of  aim  and  en- 
deavor it  will  be  best  attained  by  blending  pulpit 
preparation  with  pastoral  visitation,  giving  the 
latter  the  preference.  At  one  period  of  his  life 
Brother  Evans  was  regarded,  not  by  himself,  but 
others,  as  good  "bishop  timber."  When  many  years 
ago,  he  was  elected  to  a  connectional  office,  he 
was  thought  to  be  on  the  high  road  to  the  distinc- 
tion. But  after  a  brief  experience  as  a  book  agent, 
he  resigned  and  returned  to  the  pastorate.  This 
we  have  always  thought  was  a  wise  decision. 
Having  been  twice  in  his  district,  we  cheerfully 
bear  testimony  to  his  rare  administrative  ability, 
and  what  is  better  still,  we  can  testify  to  his  sym- 
pathetic nature,  which  greatly  endeared  him  to 
the  preachers  of  whom  he  had  a  quasi-episcopal 
oversight. 

We  have  before  intimated  that  to  us  his  death 
seemed  premature.  Certainly  it  was  sudden ; 
so  that  it  might  be  almost  literally  said  that  he 
ceased  at  once  to  wrork  and  live. 


20  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

It  was  but  a  single  step  from  the  pulpit  to  his 
death  chamber.  All  through  the  latter  years  of 
his  ministry  he  held  a  conservative  view  of  the 
holiness  question,  which,  after  all  the  pros  and 
cons  of  subtle  disputants,  is  thoroughly  Wesleyan 
and  to  the  same  extent  scriptural.  Thousands  of 
old  friends  hailed  the  coming  of  this  saintly  man 
to  his  rest  and  reward  on  the  other  shore.  May 
Georgia  Methodism  never  lack  for  men  of  his  sort, 
who  understand  the  needs  of  our  Israel. 


ALEXANDER  M.  THIGPEN. 

I  desire,  in  this  connection,  to  speak  briefly  of 
another  dear  friend  and  most  useful  minister, 
Alexander  M.Thigpen.  He  first  came  prominently 
into  notice  as  a  chaplain  in  the  army  of  Northen 
Virginia.  In  all  of  the  campaigns  of  Lee  .and 
Jackson,  he  was  noted  for  his  devotion  to  duty 
and  his  unflinching  courage  in  every  emergency. 
Such  was  the  brilliant  record  he  had  made  during 
the  war,  that  in  1865  he  was  appointed  to  Wesley 
Chapel,  Atlanta. 

I  saw  a  great  deal  of  him  during  the  two  years 
of  his  Atlanta  pastorate  and  at  his  request,  assisted 
him  in  making  a  roll  of  the  membership,   the   old 


OF    MINISTERS   AND    LAYMEN.  21 

church  register  having  been  destroyed  during  the 

Federal    occupation    of    the    city.     He    exhibited 
great  energy  in  looking  up  the  scattered  flock  and 

in  bringing  them  back  to  the  fold.    His  preaching 

was  quite  satisfactory  to  his  charge  ,and  a  goodly 

number  were  added  to  the  church. 

In  after  years  he  held  several  responsible  posi- 
tions, chiefly  the  Dalton  district  and  the  Rome  sta- 
tion. In  these,  and  other  important  charges,  he 
fully  sustained  his  reputation  as  an  able  preacher 
and  as  an  efficient  worker  in  all  departments 
of  ministerial  duty. 

In  his  social  and  domestic  relations  he  was  a 
model  for  the  Christian  minister.  His  tenderness 
to  his  invalid  wife  through  years  of  suffering  was 
one  of  the  most  beautiful  traits  of  his  noble 
character.  And  so  in  the  sick  room  of  poor  and 
rich,  his  presence  was  like  a  sunbeam,  and  his 
prayers  had  help  and  healing  in   their  utterances. 

On  the  street  he  had  a  pleasant  greeting  for 
every  acquaintance,  so  that  when  the  eye  saw 
him,  it  blessed  him,  and  when  the  ear  heard  him, 
it  honored  him. 

Strangely  enough,  such  a  life  of  usefulness  and 
unselfishness  was  deeply  shadowed  in  its  closing 
days. 

Let  us  not  stumble  at  these  mysteries  of  Provi- 
dence. 


22  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 


JOHN  W.  GLENN— THE  CONFERENCE 

LEADER. 

Forty  years  ago  there  were  three  men,  W.  J. 
Parks,  John  W.  Glenn  and  Samuel  Anthony,  who 
were  the  recognized  leaders  of  the  old  Georgia 
Conference.  In  some  sort  they  formed  an  ecclesi- 
astical triumvirate  whose  influence  was  prepon- 
derant on  all  important  conference  issues. 

This  was  not  the  result  of  personal  ambition  or 
of  any  striking  intellectual  brilliancy.  It  was 
due  largely  to  their  thorough  consecration  to  the 
work  of  the  ministry  and  only  in  a  less  degree  to 
their  judicial  mindedness.  It  was  a  high  compli- 
ment that  Bishop  McTyeire  paid  to  the  memory 
of  John  W.  Glenn  when  he  regretted  that  he  had 
not  known  him  longer  and  more  intimately,  for, 
said  McTyeire,  "he  was  endowed  with  legal  ability 
on  church  questions  beyond  any  man  of  my  ac- 
quaintance." 

These  illustrious  Georgians,  especially  Parks  and 
Glenn,  had  passed  the  meridian  of  their  lives  when 
I  met  them  at  the  Atlanta  Conference  in  1854. 
At  thaf/time,  Walker  Glenn,  as  he  was  familiarly 
called,  was  rotund  in  figure,  with  a  head  of  almost 
preternatural  size,  which  he  carried  on  one  side, 
indicating,  as  the  phrenologists  would  say,  a  com- 
bative'disposition.     The  proof  of  this  was  seen  in 


OF   MINISTERS   AND    LAYMEN.  23 

his  capacity  and  fondness  for  doctrinal  disputa- 
tion. Let  it  not  be  supposed,  however,  that 
because  of  this  leonine  look  he  was  wanting  either 
ingraciousness  of  manner  or  sweetness  of  temper. 
Indeed  the  lion,  couchant,  is  the  most  amiable  of 
beasts.  It  is  only  when  deeply  aroused  that  he 
passes  into  the  rampant  stage  and  fairly  shakes 
the  desert  with  his  roar.  So  with  Walker  Glenn. 
In  his  better  moods,  a  child  could  fondle  him,  but 
when  confronted  by  some  great  error  of  doctrine, 
or  when  in  the  presence  of  some  great  practical 
wrong,  he  was  a  most  formidable  antagonist. 
While  his  mastery  of  invective  was  thus  remark- 
able, he  was  uniformly  courteous  in  debate.  He 
neither  scolded  nor  railed,  but  yet,  spoke  with 
both  deliberation  and  emphasis.  These  special  gifts 
fitted  him  in  an  eminent  degree  for  the  work 
of  a  presiding  elder.  This  seems  to  have  been  fully 
realized  by  the  Bishop  and  his  cabinet.  Strangely 
enough,  he  was  assigned  to  the  charge  of  an  im- 
portant district  at  the  very  conference  that  admit- 
ted him  into  full  connection.  Nor  is  it  less  note- 
worthy that  in  this  office  he  spent  four-fifths  of 
his  active  itinerant  life. 

He  was  one  of  the  General  Conference  delegates 
as  early  as  1844,  having  for  his  colleagues  such 
men  as  the  Pierces,  father  and  son,  Judge  Long- 
street  and  W.  J.  Parks.  He  retained  a  lively  re- 
membrance of  the  autocratic  methods  of  the 
majority  on  that  memorable  occasion,  and  never, 


24  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

to  his  dying  day,  had  the   slightest  fancy   for  the 
organic  union  of  the  two  Methodisms.     As  a  con- 
ference debater   he   was   never   self-assertive,  and 
stuck  closely  to  the  specific    matter  in    hand.     He 
seems  to  have  thought  with  a  famous  parliament- 
ary  leader  that  the  one  aim  of  a  speaker  was   to 
forward  the  business  of  the  house.     For  this  rea- 
son, chiefly,  he  was  always  listened  to  with  great 
deference,  and,  asalready  suggested, seldom  failed 
to  carry  a  majority   with  him.     I  can   now   recall 
but  one  sermon  which    I    heard    him   deliver.    It 
was  in  Rome,  where  he  was  a   universal   favorite. 
It  was  an  able  discussion  of  the  character  of  Abra- 
ham, with   special  reference    to    the    sacrifice    of 
Isaac.    There  was  no  effort  at  pulpit  pyrotechnics, 
and  yet  there  were  some   portions  of   this  sermon 
which  quickened  the  religious   sensibilities  of   the 
congregation   to   a   most   fervent    glow,   eliciting 
warm  responses  from  the  "Amen  corner." 

Father  Glenn  died  at  his  own  residence,  near  Cave 
Springs,  in  the  seventy -first  year  of  his  age.  Bishop 
Haygood,  who  was  with  him  much  during  his 
last  illness,  wrote  and  published  shortly  after  his 
death  a  charming  memoir  of  this  master  in  Israel. 
From  this  we  take  but  a  single  excerpt  bearing 
exclusively  on  his  domestic  life.  Says  the  BishojK 
"He  was  unlike  those  public  men  who  spend  all 
their  good  humor  upon  society,  reserving  all  their 
moodiness  and  unsociableness  for  the  fireside.  He 
was  genial  and   entertaining  everywhere,  but  the 


OF    MINISTERS    AND    LAYMEN.  25 

very  life  and  center  of  the  home  circle.  There  he 
offered  the  richest  libation  of  cheerfulness,  light 
and  love."  This  tribute,  based  as  it  was  on  frequent 
personal  observation,  is  one  of  the  highest  he 
could  have  paid  to  the  memory  of  this  venerable 
minister.  It  quite  naturally  recalls  to  the  student 
of  Christian  biography,  the  scenes  at  the  English 
fireside  of  Matthew  Henry.  It  revives  likewise  the 
memory  of  the  moss-grown  manse  of  Samuel 
Rutherford  where  he  was  wont  to  catechize  the 
family,  not  forgetting  the  servants  or  the  way- 
faring guest,  when  on  one  Saturday  night  he  un- 
wittingly had  amongst  his  catechumens  Arch- 
bishop Usher,  the  Lord  Primate  of  Ireland. 

This  incident  is  deserving  of  reproduction  at 
a  time  when  the  household  altar  has  greatly 
fallen  into  decay,  even  in  Methodist  families. 
While  this  "Saint  of  Scotland,"  as  Rutherford  was 
worthily  named,  was  catechising  his  wife  and  chil- 
dren and  servants,  there. was  a  sudden  and  sharp 
rap  at  the  door.  Mr.  Rutherford  supposing  that 
some  belated  wanderer  craved  his  hospitality,  at 
once  suspended  the  services,  opened  the  door, 
inviting  the  stranger  in  and  furnishing  him  a 
chair  at  the  ingteside.  Explaining  to  the  visitor 
that  they  were  in  the  midst  of  their  Saturday  night 
devotions,  he  proceeded  with  his  work.  In  his 
turn  he  questioned  his  unlooked-for  guest  as  to  the 
number  of  the  commandments,  who  modestly  re- 
plied, "eleven."    Mr.  Rutherford  answered,  "I  had 


26  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

supposed  there  were  but  ten  in  number.  If  you 
please,  which  is  the  eleventh?"  In  an  instant  came 
the  rejoinder :  "A  new  commandment  I  give  unto 
you,  that  ye  love  one  another."  Of  course  in  due 
time  the  mystery  was  cleared  up.  The  next  morn- 
ing the  Irish  Archbishop  occupied  Mr.  Rutherford's 
pulpit,  and  spoke  charmingly  on  the  eleventh  com- 
mandment. 

Mr.  Rutherford  often  referred  to  this  strange 
occurrence  as  one  of  the  gracious  providences  of 
his  life. 


SAMUEL  ANTHONY. 

I  have  hardly  space  left  in  this  article  for  a 
proper  etching  of  Samuel  Anthony,  a  contempo- 
rary and  bosom  friend  of  Walker  Glenn. 

General  Toombs,  who  was  not  addicted  to  ex- 
travagant laudation,  was  heard  to  say  that  at 
times  Sam  Anthony  was  the  greatest  orator  he 
ever  heard  in  the  pulpit.  It  was  my  good  fortune 
to  be  much  thrown  with  Brother  Anthony  during 
the  middle  period  of  my  active  ministry,  and  with 
less  than  a  half  dozen  exceptions  I  could  indorse 
the  statement  of  that  great  Tribune.  In  personal 
courage    "Uncle    Sam"   was   as    brave    as    Mar- 


OF   MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  27 

shal  Ney.  He  was  indeed  a  stronger  to  fear, 
arid  yet  I  have  seen  him  shake  like  an  aspen  leaf 
for  the  first  five  minutes  of  a  sermon.  On  one  oc- 
casion I  ventured  to  expostulate  with  him,  because 
of  this  nervous  trepidation.  He  replied  that  it 
was  a  weakness  he  could  not  control. 

Not  tmfrequently,  however,  these  physical 
tremors  were  followed  by  such  Holy  Ghost  preach- 
ing as  I  never  heard  from  any  lips  but  his  own. 

Talk  of  "Hallelujah  licks,"  a  phrase  of  question- 
able propriety,  but  when  this  great  man  was  fully 
anointed,  his  face  shone  like  that  of  St.  Stephen 
before  the  great  council,  and  every  tone  and  ges- 
ture and  utterance,  however  ungraceful  and  tin- 
classical,  seemed  inspired. 

His  gift  of  prayer  was  one  of  his  transcendant 
endowments,  only  equaled,  in  my  experience,  by 
John  W.  Knight.  In  a  camp-meeting  altar,  or 
kneeling  at  a  mourners'  bench,  he  prayed  and 
spoke  with  a  power  and  pathos  that  was  often- 
times overwhelming.  He  had  an  abundance  of 
that  charity  which  "thinketh  no  evil."  His  breth- 
ren, indeed,  sometimes  thought  that  his  intense 
sympathetic  nature  led  him  astray.  But  while  he 
had  pity  for  the  wrongdoer,  no  man  was  less  dis- 
posed to  compromise  with  moral  evil  or  less  spar- 
ing in  his  denunciations  of  the  incorrigible  offender. 

Brother  Anthony  was  of  ten  elected  to  the  General 
Conference,    but    his  native    modesty   restrained 


L'S  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

him  from  taking  a  conspicuous  part  in  the  actings 
and  doings  of  that  great  Senate  of  Methodism. 

In  the  Church  Conference  at  Louisville,  Ken- 
tucky, in  1874,  he  had  an  almost  fatal  illness.  In 
my  turn  I  was  called  upon  to  nurse  him  through 
the  night  which  proved  to  be  the  crisis  of  his  dis- 
ease. The  next  morning  the  attending  physicians 
pronounced  him  decidedly  better.  He  continued 
to  convalesce  until  his  health  was  re-established. 
But  it  is  not  improbable  that  the  Louisville  at- 
tack of  pneumonia  was  the  remote  cause  of  his 
death. 


ALFRED  T.  MANN. 

Alfred  T.  Mann  was  an  acknowledged  leader  in 
the  old  Georgia  Conference.  His  education  was 
thorough,  and  in  general  literary  culture  he  had 
few  equals  in  the  Methodist  ministry.  His  par- 
entage was  distinguished  for  its  old-fashioned 
zeal  and  consecration.  His  father,  Uncle  John- 
nie Mann,  was  one  of  the  pillars  of  the  "old  St. 
John's"  church  of  Augusta,  from  the  early  years 
of  the  present  century,  and  his  mother  was  one  of 
the  elect  ladies  of  thatGideon'sband,  composed  of 
Sisters    Waterman,  McKean  and  Glasscock,    who 


OF    MINISTERS    AND   LAYMEN.  29 

never  faltered  in  their  church  allegiance.  With 
such  an  ecclesiastical  pedigree,  it  would  be  strange 
indeed  if  Brother  Mann  had  been  otherwise 
than  "blameless  in  life  and  in  official  administra- 
tion." My  personal  acquaintance  with  him  began 
at  Columbus  in  1855.  We  were,  on  the  occasion 
of  his  visit  to  that  city,  often  thrown  together 
in  a  social  way,  and  I  learned  both  to  love  and 
admire  him  as  a  genial  companion  and  a  high- 
toned,  Christian  gentleman. 

It  was  probably  in  1857  that,  while  stationed  in 
Marietta,  I  renewed  my  intercourse  with  Dr. 
Mann.  He  and  his  accomplished  wife,  a  daugh- 
ter of  Dr.  Lovick  Pierce,  spent  two  or  more  weeks 
with  Mrs.  Mildred  WTaterman,  who  had  known 
Bro.  Mann  from  his  childhood.  During  his  stay  in 
Marietta  he  twice  occupied  the  Methodist  pulpit, 
preaching  to  the  delight  and  edification  of  packed 
houses.  A  few  years  afterwards  I  heard  him 
deliver  a  sermon  of  great  power  during  the  first 
Annual  Conference  held  in  Rome.  His  theme  was 
the  Divinity  of  Christ,  which  he  handled  with  con- 
summate ability.  Some  of  his  leading  observa- 
tions I  was  able  to  recall  until  recent  years,  but 
they  have  now  dropped  out  of  my  memory.  My 
estimation  of  Dr.  Mann,  as  a  pulpit  orator,  is 
based  largely  on  these  discourses  heard  when  he 
was  in  his  intellectual  prime. 

His  style  on  these  great  occasions  seemed  to  me 
a  trifle  too   ornate   and   his   elocution   a   bit   too 


30  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

dramatic,  for  the  average  audience.  But  there 
was  no  lack  of  spiritual  fervor  in  his  classical  ut- 
terances, nor  was  there  in  his  delivery  any  sem- 
blance that  he  was  acting  a  part. 

On  the  contrary,  all  through  the  period  of  his 
active  ministry  he  was  a  favorite,  not  less  with  the 
ruder  population  of  the  Rome  district  than  with 
the  more  cultured  congregations  to  whom  he  minis- 
tered at  Macon,  Savannah  and  Augusta. 

For  a  few  years  he  was  put  in  charge  of  the 
leading  church  at  Memphis  and  won  fresh  laurels 
amongst  the  denizens  of  the  Bluff  City. 

Returning  to  Georgia  somewhat  broken  in  health 
and  enfeebled  by  increasing  years,  he  contented 
himself  with  less  responsible  positions. 

I  had  him  but  once  as  a  presiding  elder,  and 
found  him  dignified  and  discreet  in  his  administra- 
tion, and  both  in  and  out  of  the  pulpit  an  ecclesi- 
astical functionary  of  rare  ability  and  strict  per- 
sonal integrity.  He  survived  to  a  green  old  age 
and  at  last,  "leaving  no  blot  on  his  name,"  joined 
the  great  majority  on  the  other  shore. 


OF    MINISTERS    AND    LAYMEN.  31 


EDWARD  H.  MYERS. 

Edward  H.  Myers  was  a  contemporary  and 
bosom  friend  of  Dr.  Mann.  If  I  mistake  not  they 
were  fellow  collegians  at  Randolph-Macon  College 
in  the  old  days  of  President  Garland.  At  any 
rate,  they  were  not  unlike  in  their  personal  tastes, 
nor  in  their  mental  make-up. 

Dr.  Myers  was  most  widely  known  by  his  six- 
teen years  editorship  of  the  Southern  Christian 
Advocate,  and  his  subsequent  presidency  of  the 
Wesley  an  Female  College.  He  filled  both  these 
responsible  positions  with  credit  to  himself  and 
with  great  profit  to  the  church. 

As  an  editorial  writer  he  compared  favorably 
with  his  distinguished  predecessors,  Bishop  W7ight- 
man  and  Dr.  T.  0.  Summers.  Whilst  he  was 
neither  so  learned  as  Summers,  nor  so  brilliant  as 
Wightman,  he  was  quite  the  equal  of  either  or 
both  of  them  in  real  journalistic  ability. 

As  an  educator,  Brother  Myers  was  deserving 
of  high  praise.  Indeed,  no  president  of  the  Wes- 
ley an,  from  Bishop  Pierce  downward,  did  more  for 
the  discipline  of  that  institution  and  to  improve 
its  standard  of  scholarship. 

As  already  intimated,  his  labors  in  these  two 
great  departments  of  church  work  brought  him 
fame,  and  what  is  better  still,   secured    him    the 


32  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

sincere  respect  and  cordial  admiration  of  his 
brethren  throughout  the  boundaries  of  connec- 
tional  Methodism.  As  respects  his  pulpit  work, 
it  was  of  such  merit  as  to  place  him  in  the  front 
rank  of  the  Georgia  ministry.  This,  not  so  much 
because  of  his  oratory,  as  on  account  of  his  clear 
cut  conception  of  Gospel  truth,  which  he  was  care- 
ful to  apply  and  enforce  with  great  fidelity.  This 
holds  good  especiallv  of  the  later  years  of  his 
ministry,  when,  disconnected  with  the  worry  of 
the  editorial  sanctum  and  the  wearisome  hum- 
drum of  the  recitation  room,  he  seemed  to  acquire 
fresh  inspiration  for  his  ministerial  work.  Thence- 
forth his  preaching  was  emphatic  and  pro- 
foundly impressive.  Sinners  were  often  cut  to 
the  heart  and  believers  seemed  to  get  more  than 
a  taste  of  the  grapes  of  Eshcol. 

The  crowning  success  of  his  life  was  his  Savan- 
nah pastorate,  where  he  was  in  great  favor  with 
the  Mclntyres,  the  Heidts,  the  Walkers,  the  Mil- 
lers, and  others  who  had  long  been  leaders  in  the 
Methodist  circles  of  the  Forest  city. 

In  1876,  being  infirm  in  health,  he  went  North 
for  a  month's  recreation..  Hearing,  however, 
that  the  yellow  fever  had  become  epidemic,  and 
some  of  his  own  parishioners  were  amongst  the 
sufferers,  he  abandoned  his  summer  vacation  and 
returned  to  the  city  against  the  protest  of  his 
official  members.  He  entered  at  once  on  the  work 
of  visitation  amongst  the  sick    and    dying,    and 


OF   MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  88 

contracting  the  disease,  became  a  victim  of  that 
terrible  epidemic.  Such  heroism  well  deserves  to 
to  be  perpetuated  in  church  history. 

It  would  be  inexcusable  to  omit  all  reference  to 
the  services  of  Dr.  Myers  in  connection  with  the 
General  Conference  and  the  Cape  May  commis- 
sion. In  both  positions  he  won  no  little  distinc- 
tion as  a  judicious  and  safe  counsellor  and  legis- 
lator. 


W.  H.  POTTER— THE  PRINCELY  MIS- 
SIONARY. 

The  life  of  Dr.  Weyman  H.  Potter  was  compar- 
atively quiet  and  unobtrusive,  but  it  has  left  a 
broad  and  strange  influence  that  will  abide  and 
work  its  results  in  the  history  of  the  world.  He 
was  a  master  in  manv  circles,  and  in  them  all  his 
presence  was  felt  by  a  sense  of  sauetification  and 
safety,  and  his  words  were  ever  honored  as  the 
words  of  wisdom. 

As  we  usually  estimate  the  powers  of  thinking, 
Dr.  Potter  was  often  considered  a  slow  thinker; 
but  when  we  understand  how  he  thought  the 
marvel  is  that  he  thought  so.  rapidly.  His  mind 
was  a  comprehensive  one  in  the  true  sense ;  grasp- 


34  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

ing  all,  or  more  nearly  all  than  is  usual,  that  per- 
tained directly  or  indirectly  to  the  question  at 
issue.  Many  times  I  have  looked  into  his  face  as 
he  was  revolving  a  question,  and  noted  the  signs 
of  intense  mental  action  in  the  effort  to  reach  the 
truth  in  its  fullness.  To  many  of  his  hearers,  too, 
the  first  parts  of  his  discourses  were  often  heavy 
and  tedious.  But  to  those  who  followed  him 
from  the  beginning  there  was  always  a  rich  re- 
ward not  to  be  had  from  the  more  brilliant  but 
surface  discourses  of  the  day.  He  had  a  clear 
appreciation  of  the  range  of  questions  and  the 
many  elements  that  entered  into  the  truth  in 
regard  to  them.  Because  of  this,  time  was  neces- 
sary to  bring  these  elements  into  their  proper 
relation  and  to  consider  their  bearing  on  each 
other  and  on  the  point  before  him. 

Hence  while  he  may  have  appeared  to  be  slow, 
there  was  compensation  in  the  end,  in  that  his 
opinions  were  generally  correct,  and  his  presenta- 
tion of  themes  was  rich  in  the  material  gathered 
along  the  way  and  in  the  triumphant  conclusions 
to  which  he  lead. 

Something  of  the  elements  of  the  Iron  Duke 
comes  to  the  mind  of  one  who  was  wrell  acquainted 
with  Dr.  Potter  as  he  contemplated  the  trend 
of  his  character  and  life.  He  was  by  no  means 
perfect,  but  looking  at  his  life  as  we  mortals  have 
the  right  to  look,  the  virtues  of  this  man  rise 
hrough  and  above  his  imperfections  like  a   splen- 


OF   MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  85 

did  temple  amid  the  rubbish  that  was  left  from 
its  structure.  His  virtues  were  great  in  them- 
selves but  taken  together,  blended  and  fitted  into 
each  other,  they  made  for  him  a  character  of  iron 
integrity  and  a  life  of  more  than  ordinal*}'  sym- 
metry and  power. 

But  it  was  in  the  career  of  a  missionary  that  the 
life  of  Dr.  Potter  shone  most  conspicuously.  He 
realized  more  fully  than  most  men  that  he  and  all 
others  had  a  divine  commission  to  accomplish  in 
this  world  and  in  every  department  of  duty  that 
commission  seemed  to  be  before  him.  The  great 
command — "Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and  preach 
the  gospel" — seemed  to  have  taken  hold  on  him 
and  possessed  him  wholly,  and  to  have  given 
shape  and  direction  to  all  of  his  doings.  He  gave 
intelligent  and  earnest  consideration  to  the  busi_ 
ness  and  incidental  details  of  the  church,  because 
he  regarded  them  as  a  part  of  the  subordinate 
machinery  that  was  to  work  out  the  divine  com- 
mission and  carry  the  gospel  to  all  men. 

The  great  thought  that  seemed  to  consume  his 
whole  being,  as  he  grew  older,  was  to  present  the 
advantages  that  we  had  for  spreading  the  king- 
dom of  God,  and  to  arouse  the  church  to  an  ap- 
preciation of  its  high  calling  in  the  royal  mission 
of  sending  the  gospel  of  salvation  to  all  nations  • 
When  the  Master  went  away  and  said,  " Occupy 
till  I  come,"  he  left  to  humanity  an  enterprise,  the 
highest  that  is  known  to  man,  and  as  royal  in   its 


6  KIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 


dignity  as  the  eternal  kingdom  itself.  It  is  the 
enterprise  to  lift  every  head  with  hope  and  inspire 
every  heart  with  the  desire  for  the  true  life.  No 
man  can  ever  be  himself  or  enter  upon  his  high 
estate  until  he  hears  that  command  and  turns  his 
life,  with  some  earnestness  and  energy,  to  its 
elevating  and  royal  ends.  No  church  can  ever 
attain  to  the  dignity  and  character  of  a  true 
church  in  any  degree,  unless  there  is  in  it  some 
lively  appreciation  of  the  scope  of  meaning  in  this 
command  as  it  reaches  out  after  the  fallen  world 
and  impels  the  heart  in  that  direction.  Dr.  Potter 
manifested  his  princely  nature  by  entering  into 
this  great  truth  and  trying  to  appropriate  its 
divine  virtue  to  his  own  life  and  to  get  all  others 
to  do  the  same. 

For  many  years  before  his  death,  he  saw  the 
magnitude  of  the  gospel  work ;  he  saw  the  royal 
mission  of  the  church  and  its  human  and  divine 
fitness  for  that  mission  ;  he  accepted  the  promise 
of  God  for  blessings  on  the  cause,  he  realized  the 
beauty  and  glory  of  the  final  triumph;  and  he 
made  the  great  commission  the  theme,  the  sweet 
and  soul-inspiring  song  of  his  life.  No  one  could 
doubt  that  who  heard  the  broad,  comprehensive, 
fervid  discourses  which  he  delivered  during  his 
latter  years,  and  the  triumphant  tone  that  ran 
through  them  all.  Those  discourses  were  like 
mighty  torrents,  sweeping  toward  the  gates  of 
God's  kingdom    and   carrying  every   hearer  with 


OF   MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  37 

them,  while  music  from  the  heavenly  city  was 
falling  on  their  ears  all  the  time.  They  were  the 
soul-stirring  shouts  of  a  great  general,  with  the 
banner  of  victor}7  in  his  hand,  trying  to  lead  a 
hesitating  army  to  sure  and  complete  triumph. 

His  life  was  one  of  continuous  study  and  train- 
ing for  the  royal  ends  before  him ;  but  when  he 
entered  upon  the  duties  of  missionarv  secretary, 
he  seemed  more  than  ever  to  be  the  prince  in  God's 
kingdom  to  which  his  great  soul  had  all  along 
been  tending.  It  was  then  that  he  entered  with 
all  of  his  accumulated  energies  into  the  spirit  of 
the  mission  of  the  Son  of  God,  the  Saviour  of  the 
world.  It  was  then  that  he  grasped  with  con- 
fidence the  scepter  and  ascended  the  throne  of  the 
kingdom  to  which  he,  with  all  of  God's  children, 
was  called  in  canning  on  the  government  of  life 
and  salvation,  while  Christ,  the  great  King,  was 
gone  away.  It  was  then  that  more  fully  than 
ever  he  became  a  prince  among  men,  a  prince  in 
Israel,  a  princely  missionary  in  the  great  Church 
of  God. 


38  BIOGRAPHIC     ETCHINGS 


G.  J.  PEARCE. 

G.  J.  Pearce  was  one  of  the  notable  men  of  the 
Georgia  Conference  when  I  was  received  on  trial 
in  the  class  of  1854.  From  our  first  acquaintance 
we  were  friends,  and  oar  friendship  was  never  in- 
terrupted for  a  single  moment,  hut  deepened  as  the 
years  rolled  by.  I  shall  never  forget  his  tender 
sympathy  when  I  lay  a  physical  wreck  at  Trinity 
parsonage  nearly  twenty  years  ago.  His  own 
health,  never  vigorous,  was  at  the  time  badly  shat- 
tered, but,  from  time  to  time,  he  visited  my  par- 
sonage home  and  greatly  refreshed  me  with  the 
sunlight  of  his  presence  and  conversation.  On 
these  occasions  his  godly  counsel  and  his  fervent 
prayers  were  a  benediction  to  my  entire  household. 

In  a  former  number  of  the  series  of  biographic 
etchings,  we  spoke  of  Jesse  Boring  as  the  Salva- 
tor  Rosa  of  the  Georgia  pulpit,  because  of  his  lurid 
word  painting  of  the  judgment  scene  and  of  the 
endless  doom  of  the  wicked.  In  some  respects  Jeff 
Pearce  might  be  likened  to  Sidney  Smith  of  the 
English  pulpit.  Without  the  scholarship  of  that 
eminent  divine  he  had,  in  no  small  degree,  the  caus- 
tic wit  and  the  metaph}  sical  brain  which  distin- 
guished the  gifted  author  of  the  Peter  Plymley 
Letters. 


OF   MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  39 

We  have  heard  him  on  more  than  one  occasion 
when  he  preached  not  with  gush,  but  with  a  chas- 
tened enthusiasm  that  touched  every  heart,  and 
yet,  in  a  twinkling,  there  were  flashes  of  wit  that 
well-nigh  convulsed  his  audience. 

Later  on,  his  metaphysical  gifts  were  brought 
into  exercise  in  the  analysis  of  some  grave  prob- 
lem of  Christian  philosophy,  so  as  to  command 
the  admiration  of  every  thoughtful  listener.  Some 
of  the  older  preachers  like  Cotter,  Rush,  Adams, 
Hinton  and  McGhee,  well  remember  his  spirited 
controversy  with  McFerrin  during  the  Atlanta  ses- 
sion of  1861.  Brother  Pearce  resented  in  a  very 
emphatic  way,  the  great  Tennesseean's  arraign- 
ment of  the  Georgia  Conference  for  its  alleged  dis- 
loyalty to  the  Southern  Publishing  House.  I  have 
seldom  witnessed  on  the  Conference  floor  such  a 
lively  discussion  as  followed.  The  breach  threat- 
ened to  be  serious,  but  after  mutual  explanation, 
was  healed  by  a  generous  indorsement  of  the  Nash- 
ville House.  Brother  Pearce  struggled  for  many 
years  of  his  adult  life  with  a  throat  trouble  wmich 
unfitted  him  somewhat  for  the  constant  stress  of  the 
pastorate.  For  this  reason  mainly  he  served  for  a 
long  term  as  agent  of  the  American  Bible  Society. 
In  this  capacity  he  won  the  cordial  approbation 
of  the  managers  of  that  great  charity,  and  was 
retired  from  his  position  at  his  own  urgent  request. 
Subsequently  he  was  elected  to  the  presidency   of 


40  BIOGRAPHIC     ETCHINGS 

the  LaGrange  Female  College,   and   did  much  to 
elevate  its  standard  of  scholarship. 

While  serving  these  two  institutions  he  traveled 
widely  and  preached  with  much  success  from  Look- 
out to  Tybee. 

These  evangelistic  labors  were  followed  in  some 
communities  by  extensive  revivals,  which  greatly 
strengthened  the  church.  Such  arduous  labors 
were  at  times  very  exhaustive  to  a  man  who  was 
a  sufferer  from  invalidism,  nor  is  there  room  to 
doubt  that  they  contributed  to  the  ultimate  col- 
lapse. But  I  must  sa}rthat  his  ill-advised  transfer 
to  the  South  Georgia  Conference,  with  its  disap- 
pointments, had  a  most  injurious  effect  on  his  ner- 
vous system.  I  urged  him  not  to  make  the  change, 
but  other  counsels  prevailed .  At  any  rate,  it  proved 
a  pivotal  period  in  his  life.  From  that  time  for- 
ward his  health  steadily  declined,  and  it  was  evi- 
dent to  his  most  intimate  friends  that  there  was 
but  slight  hope  of  his  recovery. 

He  still  worked  as  best  he  could  in  the  Master's 
vinej^ard,  now  and  then  exhibiting  the  old-time 
fervor,  with  an  occasional  glimpse  of  his  former 
intellectual  JDOwer.  In  his  last  days  he  was  sus- 
tained by  a  steadfast  taith,  and  soothed  by  the 
sweet  ministries  of  a  dearly  loved  Christian  home. 

When  at  last  the  end  came,  his  ransomed  spirit 
went  sweeping  through  the  gates  amidst  the  harp- 
ings  and  hallelujahs  of  the  glorified. 


OF    MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  41 


WILLIAM  ARNOLD. 

I  am  quite  sure  it  was  in  the  summer  of  1839 
that  while  a  boy  attending  the  popular  Harris 
county  camp-meeting,  I  first  heard  "Uncle  Billy 
Arnold"  of  the  old  Georgia  Conference.  As  I 
recall  him,  he  was  of  imposing  presence,  the  im- 
personation of  neatness,  and  distinguished  for  a 
suavity  of  manner  that  won  the  hearts  of  all  who 
came  in  contact  with  him.  He  seemed  a  born 
versifier ;  so  much  so  indeed  that  if  he  had  been 
reared  in  Italy  he  would  have  been  reckoned  an 
improvisator. 

His  sermons  were  interspersed  with  snatches  of 
Wesleyan  hymns  and  with  other  verses  which  he 
produced  upon  the  spur  of  the  moment,  greatly  to 
the  delight  of  his  congregations.  Some  of  these 
verses  of  his  own  coinage  would  have  pleased  the 
critical  taste  of  Isaac  Watts  or  Philip  Doddridge. 

Nor  was  he  less  skillful  in  the  use  of  a  rhetoric 
that  roused  the  religious  sensibilities  and  made 
him  a  favorite  amongst  all  classes  of  hearers. 

Added  to  this  was  a  glow  of  deep  personal  piety 
that  constituted  him  one  of  the  most  effective 
revivalists  amongst  his  contemporaries.  His  son, 
Rev.  Miles  W.  Arnold,  still  in  the  flesh,  and  his 
late  grandson,  Rev.  Willie  Arnold,  both  inherited 
some  of  these  special  gifts  of  their  illustrious  an- 
cestor.    While  stationed  in   Milledgeville  in  1860, 


42  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

I  was  hoping  to  have  him  with  me  every  third 
Sunday  in  the  month,  but  he  sickened  and  died 
almost  at  the  beginning  of  my  pastorate,  so  that 
I  missed  his  valuable  help.  Father  Arnold  has 
left  few  written  memorials  of  his  pulpit  work,  but 
all  through  Middle  Georgia  there  still  linger  tradi- 
tions of  his  great  moral  worth,  and  of  his  minis- 
terial usefulness. 

His  wide-spread  popularity  as  a  preacher  of 
funeral  discourses  was  a  striking  feature  of  his 
ministry.  A  few  of  the  older  citizens,  who  heard 
him  at  sundry  times  on  these  sad  occasions,  tes- 
tify that  in  this  respect  he  was  without  a  peer 
in  his  generation. 

After  a  life  cf  spotless  integrity,  he  long  ago 
entered  a  world  where  "the  inhabitants  shall 
never  say,  I  am  sick.''  Where  "no  mourners  go 
about  the  streets''  of  that  golden  city,  whose 
walls  are  salvation  and  whose  gates  are  praise. 


REV.  WM.  J.  PARKS. 

My  first  glimpse  of  "Uncle  Billy  Parks"  was  in 
1833,  the  year  of  the  great  meteoric  shower,  the 
likeof  which  will  not  probably  be  seen  for  another 
hundred  years.  He  was,  at  the  time,  a  resident 
of  Franklin    county    and    came  to  Salem,  Clark 


OF    MINISTERS   AND    LAYMEN.  43 

county,  to  place  his  son,  Harwell  H.,  in  the  village 
academy,  of  which  my  father  was  the  widely- 
known  rector.  Harwell  was,  as  I  remember  him, 
a  quiet,  studious  boy,  but  tough  of  muscle,  as 
some  of  us  learned  by  a  practical  test  at  boxing 
and  wrestling. 

Brother  Parks  was  then  the  oracle  of  the  moun- 
taineers of  North-eastern  Georgia,  over  whom  he 
wielded  an  influence  unequaled  by  any  of  his  early 
contemporaries.  He  was,  neither  by  taste  nor 
training,  a  society  man — was  ungainhT  almost  to 
awkwardness  in  his  manner ;  and  yet  he  had  all 
the  instincts  of  a  gentleman,  and  a  politeness  that 
would  have  done  no  discredit  to  Chesterfield. 

Like  most  of  his  ministerial  contemporaries,  he 
entered  the  conference  with  little  educational  outfit 
beyond  a  smattering  of  grammar,  geography  and 
arithmetic.  But  he  had  in  him  a  fixed  purpose  to 
improve  himself  by  study,  as  far  as  was  compati- 
ble with  large  circuits  and  hard  horse-back  travel. 
He  moreover  resolved  to  make  himself  familiar 
with  the  sacred  Scriptures  and  with  the  Discipline 
of  the  church.  In  these  respe  ts  he  was  eminently 
successful;  indeed,  far  more  so  than  many  who 
have  been  trained  in  our  later  theological  semi- 
naries. In  a  few  years  his  profiting  was  apparent 
to  his  brethren  of  the  ministry  and  the  laity,  who 
came  to  regard  him  as  "mighty  in  the  Scriptures," 
but  without  that  other  gift  of  Apollos— eloquence 
of  speech. 


\A  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

If  we  were  to  attempt  a  strict  analysis  of  his 
mental  make-up,  we  should  sa}^  that  his  perceptive 
faculties  were  largely  in  excess  of  his  reflective 
powers.  All  through  his  ministry,  he  was  noted 
for  his  intense  practicalness.  He  loved  truth  in 
the  concrete  better  than  in  the  abstract,  and  pur- 
posely   avoided     that    theological    hair-splitting 

"That  could  divide 
A  hair  'twixt  North  and  Xorth-west  side." 

Brother  Parks  was,  however,  like  most  of  the 
great  Methodist  leaders  in  that  controversial 
period,  a  skillful  disputant.  In  proof  of  this  wre 
have  a  small  volume  which  he  wrote  on  "Apos- 
tas3r,"  which  pla\7ed  havoc  wilh  the  Calvinistic 
dogma  of  "Final  Perseverance."  It  is  now  prob- 
abhT  out  of  print,  but  wre  enjoyed  and  profited  by 
the  reading  of  it  in  our  youthful  days.  The  Scrip- 
tural argument,  and  the  stj'le  as  well,  ought  to 
have  perpetuated  it  until  the  close  of  the  century.* 

His  personal  influence  as  before  intimated  in 
these  series,  had  great  weight  with  the  annual 
conference. 

He  had,  besides  other  qualifications  for  leader- 
ship, a  faculty  of  close  observation  wThich  made 
his  estimate  of  men  almost  infallible.  He  was  a 
rough-hewn,  stern-featured  man,wTith  a  brow  like 
a  craggy  mountain  cliff,  which  gave  him  at  times 
the  appearance  of  an  austere  man.  Never  was  there 
a  greater  misapprehension,  for  back  of  this  there 


OF    MINISTERS    AND    LAYMEN.  45 

lay  a  kindly  heart  and  a  large  generosity.  Several 
times,  especially  when  he  was  representing  Emory 
College,  1  had  him  as  a  welcome  guest  at  my  own 
fireside.  Although  my  senior  by  many  years,  I 
found  him  a  most  companionable  spirit,  and  quite 
a  favorite  with  my  wife  and  children.  The  last 
time  I  saw  this  venerable  servant  of  God,  was  at 
his  delightful  home  in  Oxford.  I  was  on  that  oc- 
casion, a  member  of  the  board  of  visitors  to  that 
excellent  institution,  and  on  Sabbath  night  took 
tea  with  Brother  Parks  and  his  family.  I  saw  at 
a  glance  that  his  was  a  well-ordered  household, 
and  that  he  had,  in  a  good  degree,  the  Christian 
virtue  of  hospitality.  Soon  after  the  evening  de- 
votions, which  were  never  omitted,  I  was  com- 
pelled to  withdraw  to  meet  a  pulpit  engagement 
at  the  village  church.  He  walked  with  me  to  the 
door,  and  expressed  his  deep  regret  that  because 
of  his  feeble  health  he  would  be  unable  to  hear  the 
sermon.  If  possible,  I  was  more  than  ever 
charmed  by  the  gentleness  of  his  spirit,  and  the 
graciousness  of  his  manner.  He  was  evidently  on 
the  verge  of  heaven,  and  I  could  almost  seethe 
aureole  resting  on  his  thin,  white  locks. 

Only  a  little  while  and  the  veteran  was  "num- 
bered with  the  saints  in  glory  everlasting." 

If  I  wanted  to  characterize  the  preaching  of  this 
grand  man,  I  would  say  in  a  few  words,  that 
while  in  his  pulpit  ministrations  there  was  the 
absence  of  the  "genius  of  gesture"   and   all  the 


46  BIOGRAPHIC   ETCHINGS 

rodomontade  that  phrase  implies,  there  was  a  well- 
defined  individuality  which  made  himamost  strik- 
ing figure  in  any  religious  assembly. 


REV.  JAMES  B.  JACKSON. 

I  must  of  necessity  greatly  condense  what  I  shall 
have  to  say  of  another  dear  friend  and  very  able 
minister.  I  refer  to  the  Rev.  James  B.  Jackson, 
who  may  be  fitly  styled  a  diamond  in  the    rough. 

My  acquaintance  with  him  began  and  almost 
ended  with  my  two  years  pastorate  in  the  thriv- 
ing and  delightful  little  city  of  Americus.  Brother 
Jackson  was  my  presiding  elder,  and  never  was 
there  the  slightest  want  of  brotherly  affection  be- 
tween us.  He  seemed  devoted  to  me  and  lam  quite 
sure  I  loved  him  as  though  he  had  been  my  twin 
brother.  He  was  as  shrinking  as  a  country  girl 
and  utterly  void  of  self-assertion.  He  was  fully 
persuaded  that  a  majority  of  his  preachers  were  his 
superiors  in  the  pulpit,  yet  not  one  of  them  was 
his  equal  as  a  theologian  or  logician.  In  the 
graces  of  true  oratory  he  did  not  excel,  but  in 
solid  sense  and  powertul  reasoning  I  have  rarely 
in  earlier  or  later  times  seen  his  peer. 


OF   MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  47 

He  frequently  spoke  to  me  of  the  disadvantages 
under  which  he  labored  in  the  outset  of  his  career. 
He  was  full  seventeen  years  of  age  when  he  en- 
tered a  log  school-house,  I  believe  in  Jackson 
county,  armed  with  Webster's  spelling  book.  But 
from  the  start  his  progress  was  rapid  and  con- 
tinuous. At  his  first  circuit  appointment  he  broke 
down  from  sheer  timidity,  and  would  have  retired 
from  the  work  if  the  older  brethren  had  not  urged 
him  forward.  The  scene  as  he  described  it  to  me 
when  he  stood  in  the  pulpit  at  this  appointment, 
and,  with  tears,  entreated  some  brother  to  "  take 
the  books"  as  he  could  not  preach,  was  exceedingly 
pathetic.  But  such  was  his  rapid  advancement 
that  before  the  close  of  the  year  the  best  and 
wisest  of  his  parishoners  were  clamorous  for  his 
re-appointment . 

Brother  Jackson  had  no  gift  of  exhortation, 
and  was  consequently  lacking  greatly  in  evangel- 
istic force.  Very  few  apparently  were  brought 
into  the  church  by  his  personal  ministry,  and  yet 
I  doubt  not  that  he  turned  many  to  righteous- 
ness in  his  quiet,  unpretentious  way.  At  Cuthbert 
and  Lumpkin,  where  he  was  stationed,  he  had  a 
host  of  admirers,  and  all  through  South-western 
Georgia  and  Florida  he  was  esteemed  as  one  of  the 
ablest  presiding  elders  even  known  in  all  that  vast 
stretch  of  territory. 

In  the  Apostolic  Church  he  would  have  ranked 
high  as  a  pulpit  teacher,  and  with  a  better  educa- 


Is  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

tional  equipment  he  would  have  graced  the  chair 
ot'  dogmatic  theology  at  Princeton  or  Vanderbilt. 
His  death  was  sudden  and  in  some  of  its  aspects 
unspeakably  sad.  It  was  caused  by  a  railroad 
accident  as  he  was  returning  from  a  district  ap- 
pointment where  he  had  preached  with  great 
power.  It  is  with  me  a  pleasant  anticipation, 
that  I  shall  one  day  meet  this  dear  friend  and 
honored  brother  in  some  quiet  nook  or  on  some 
sunny  slope  of  the  heavenly  Canaan.  Long  ago 
he  has  greeted  Sam  Anthony  and  Lovick  Pierce, 
two  of  his  most  cherished  friends,  amidst  the  fel- 
low-ship of  the  glorified. 


REV.  JOHN  P.  DUNCAN. 

My  impression  is  that  John  P.  Duncan  was  a 
native  of  Pennsylvania  and  that  hecame  South  to 
engage  in  teaching.  He  was  fairly  educated, 
and  throughout  his  life  was  a  reader  of  the  lighter 
English  and  American  literature. 

He  had  great  fondness  for  poetry,  Robert 
Burns  being  his  favorite  and  then  John  Milton, 
Edward  Young,  Alexander  Pope  and  others,  very 
much  in  the  order  named.  He  was  not  less  wed- 
ded to  vocal  music,  and  some  of  his  renditions  of 


OF   MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  49 

the  hymns  of  Burns  and  Tom  Moore  would  have 
done  honor  to  a  professional.  His  knowledge  of 
the  Wesleyan  hymns  was  thorough,  nor  less  so 
his  acquaintance  with  camp-meeting  melodies 
and  revival  songs.  He  had  a  sweetness  of  voice 
whether  in  song  or  sermon  which  I  have  seldom 
known  equalled.  He  entered  the  conference  when 
Bishop  Pierce  was  still  an  under-graduate,  and 
for  long  3'ears  they  loved  each  other  as  did  David 
and  Jonathan.  In  his  earlier  ministry  Brother 
Duncan  was  a  revivalist  of  great  distinction.  His 
converts  on  a  circuit  or  station  were  numbered  not 
by  scores  but  by  hundreds.  His  gifts  of  song,  ex- 
hortation and  prayer  were  inimitable.  As  a  ser- 
monizer  he  was  as  little  successful  as  he  was  when 
in  the  presiding  eldership,  and  yet  I  have  met  men 
of  average  intelligence  w^ho  regarded  him  as  the 
equal  if  not  the  superior  of  the  best  preachers 
amongst  his  contemporaries.  When  in  the 
vigor  of  middle  age  he  was  immensely  popular  as 
a  pastor.  Like  Barnabas  he  was  a  son  of  consola- 
tion. In  the  sick  room,  on  a  funeral  occasion, 
and  wherever  aching  hearts  were  to  be  soothed 
and  strengthened  he  was  in  his  right  element. 

This  facultv  mav  have  been  a  source  of  weak- 
ness  to  him  as  an  expositor  of  the  Hohr  Scriptures. 
And  yet  he  knew  the  Bible,  at  least  its  verbiage, 
from  lid  to  lid  and  quoted  it  with  marvelous  facil- 
ity and  accuracy.  He  only  lacked  greater  power 
for  consecutive  thinking  and  argumentative  skill 


50  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

to  have  attained  for  himself  a  foremost  place  in 
the  Methodist  ministry.  During  my  pastorate  at 
Americus,  his  wife  and  children  were  in  my  charge 
and  I  occasionally  sat  at  his  fireside  and  some- 
times shared  his  bountiful  hospitality. 

In  his  later  years  he  was  the  subject  of  sore 
affliction,  his  family  dead  or  scattered,  his 
property  consumed,  his  eye-sight  well-nigh  de- 
stroyed, and  he  an  itinerant  lecturer,  greatly  ad- 
mired, but  poorly  paid. 

These  mutations  of  worldly  fortune  did  not, 
however,  sour  his  disposition  ur  shake  his  stead- 
fast trust  in  God.  Somewhere  in  Alabama  he  sud- 
denly passed  away  and  joined  the  vast  multitude 
of  whom  it  is  so  touchingly  said,  "These  are  they 
that    have    come     out      of    great      tribulation." 

Thousands  still  live  who  were  brought  to  Christ 
through  his  exceptionally  effective  ministry. 

As  for  myself,  in  looking  back  upon  our  two- 
score  years  of  delightful  intimacy,  lam  inclined  to 
inscribe  on  his  grave  stone  this  pious  wish,  which 
other  thousands  would  gladly  echo  : 

'•Green  be  the  turf   above  thee, 
Friend  of  my  better  days." 


OF   MINISTERS   AND    LAYMEN.  51 


JOHN  W.  YARBROUGH. 

When  a  boy  I  sojourned  for  a  time  with  an  uncle 
in  McDonough,  Georgia.  This  uncle  was  a  staunch 
Methodist  with  a  warm  side  for  the  Presby- 
terians because  his  excellent  wife  was  a  member  of 
that  communion.  At  the  time  of  my  stay  in  his 
household,  John  W.  Yarbrough  was  in  charge  of 
the  McDonough  circuit,  and  he  had  no  firmer 
friend  than  "Uncle  Billy  White."  Brother 
Yarbrough  was  then,  as  ever  afterwards,  an  ag- 
gressive preacher,  not  afraid  to  denounce  in  fitting 
terms  the  drink  habit,  the  dance  room,  the  horse 
races  and  other  evil  practices  condemned  by  the 
General  Rules  of  the  church.  In  so  doing  he 
provoked  no  little  opposition  from  the  rude  boys  of 
the  community.  For  a  season  he  had  rough  sail- 
ing, but  m}7  remembrance  is  that  his  plain  preach- 
ing, as  often  happens,  was  followed  by  a  gra- 
cious revival,  the  results  of  which  are  still  felt  and 
seen  in  that   Middle  Georgia  circuit. 

It  was  quite  a  number  of  years  before  I  again 
met  him  as  my  presiding  elder  on  the  Atlanta  dis- 
trict in  1861.  In  the  meantime  he  had  grown  gray 
in  the  Master's  service,  and  had  become  a  preacher 
of  very  considerable  prominence  in  the  conference. 
He  was  then  at  his  best  in  the  pulpit,  and  was  a 
favorite  with  all  classes,   in   town   and  country. 


52  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

Brother  Yarbrough  had  enough  Irish  blood  in 
his  veins  to  make  him  a  commanding  orator  in 
an j  presence. 

I  recall  an  illustration  of  this  fact  in  connection 
with  a  visit  of  William  L.  Yancey  to  Atlanta  during 
this  eventful  war  period.  Col.  Ben  C.  Yancey  and 
his  wife  had  been  received  into  the  membership  of 
Wesley  Chapel  during  the  summer  of  1861,  and 
were  regular  attendants  on  its  ministr}'.  Quite 
naturally  the  distinguished  Alabamian  accompa- 
nied them  to  church.  On  one  of  these  occasions 
the  services  were  conducted  by  the  presiding  elder. 
Bro.  Yarbrough  remarked  afterwards  that  he  was 
not  aware  of  Mr.  Yancey's  presence,  otherwise  he 
would  have  been  greatly  embarassed.  He  preached, 
however,  one  of  his  ablest  sermons,  based  on 
Abraham's  intercession  for  Sodom.  The  whole 
congregation  was  greatly  delighted,  and  after  the 
benediction  Mr.  Yancey  came  forward  seeking  to 
be  made  acquainted  with  the  preacher,  and 
thanked  him  most  heartily  for  his  very  able 
discourse.  This  was  no  small  compliment,  coming 
from  one  of  the  most  gifted  orators  of  the 
South. 

Brother  Yarbrough  was  not  a  scholar  in  the 
technical  sense  of  that  term,  but  his  reading  had 
been  wide  in  its  range,  and  this  was  especially 
true  of  the  standard  theological  writers  of 
Methodism. 


OF    MINISTERS    AND    LAYMEN.  53 

There  was,  in  most  of  his  preaching,  a  blend- 
ing of  humor  and  pathos  that  rarely  failed 
to  please  his  rustic  audiences  and  those  he  was 
most  frequently  brought  in  contact  with,  as  his 
conference  appointments  were  exclusively  on 
circuits  and  districts. 

The  last  months  of  his  life  were  spent  in  suffer- 
ing from  a  malignant  cancer.  But  he  bore  his 
afflictions  with  true  Christian  fortitude  and  died 
in  peace  in  the  presence  of  his  devoted  family. 


WM.  M.  CRUMLEY. 

William  M.  Crumley,  from  want  of  early  educa- 
tional training,  started  at  the  bottom  round  of 
the  ministerial  ladder.  And  yet,  by  patient  study, 
he  became  one  of  the  ablest  preachers  of  the  Old 
Georgia  Conference. 

When  I  was  associated  with  Dr.  Eustace  W. 
Speer  as  junior  preacher  at  Columbus  in  1835, 
Brother  C.  came  on  a  visit  to  his  former  parish- 
oners  of  that  Methodist  strong-hold.  On  the  fol- 
lowing Sabbath  he  occupied  the  pulpit  of  the 
present  St.  Luke's  church,  to  the  delight  of 
a  vast  congregation.  He  was  slowly  rallying 
from  an  attack  of  yellow    fever,  from    which    he 


54  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

suffered  during  the  previous  autumn  while  pastor 
of  Trinity  church,   Savannah. 

His  sermon  very  properly  related  to  his  pastoral 
experiences  in  the  sick  room  during  the  preva- 
lence of  that  terrible  pestilence.  Not  the  least  of 
Brother  Crumley's  pulpit  gifts  was  a  faculty  of 
delineation  that  was  strikingly  graphic  in  its 
style. 

His  description  of  the  death  scene  of  his  colleague, 
Rev.  Joshua  Payne,  a  promising  and  consecrated 
young  minister,  melted  the  audience  to  tears. 

His  own  experience  when  he  seemed  nearing  the 
spirit  world,  followed  as  it  was  by  a  tranced  con- 
dition, during  which  the  watchers  by  his  bedside 
believed  him  dead,  was  thrillingly  eloquent. 

Indeed,  his  experience  was  almost  identical  with 
that  of  Mr.  Tennanl ,  of  New  Jersey,  a  Presby- 
terian divine  of  the  last  century,  except  that  it  was 
of  much  shorter  duration. 

Brother  Crumley,  on  two  or  more  occasions? 
described  to  me  the  ebb  of  the  life-current  until  he 
was  hovering  on  the  very  border  of  the  better 
land.  Meanwhile,  his  sensations  were  delightful 
beyond  expression.  He  was  conscious  when  the 
crisis  was  past  and  he  began  to  return  to  life. 

At  no  period  of  his  eminently  useful  life  did 
Brother  Crumley  do  better  ministerial  w-ork  than 
while  he  was  on  duty  as  chaplain  of  the  Georgia 
Hospital  at  Richmond,  Virginia,  during  the  late 
war.      His  sympathetic  nature,  his   ripe,  religious 


OF    MINISTERS   AND    LAYMEN.  55 

experience,  his  gentleness  of  manner,  bis  per- 
suasive style  of  preaching,  and  his  power  in  prayer 
all  contributed  to  fit  him  for  the  arduous  work 
to  which  he  was  assigned.  Probably  hundreds  of 
the  bo\rs  in  gray  were  brought  to  Christ  through 
his  ministry  in  the  wards  of  the  hospital.  He  ac- 
complished a  vast  amount  of  good  likewise  by 
visiting  the  battlefields  and  in  preaching,  as  he 
had  opportunity,  to  the  soldiers  in  camp.  These 
rough  experiences  in  Virginia  may  have  helped 
greatly  to  shorten  the  term  of  his  effective  minis- 
try. It  was  obvious  to  his  friends  that  after  the 
war  his  old-time  vigor  had  somewhat  abated. 
A  few  years  later  he  began  to  meditate  on  the 
propriety  of  retiring  from  conference  work  be 
cause  of  his  physical  disability.  He  shared  in  a 
measure  the  life-long  disinclination  of  Dr.  Pierce 
to  go  upon  the  superannuated  list.  Both  of  these 
venerable  men  preferred  location  to  superannua- 
tion. Dr.  Pierce,  althoxigh  for  many  years  virtu- 
ally superannuated,  was,  at  his  own  urgent  re- 
quest, kept  on  the  effective  list.  Brother  Crum- 
ley, however,  yielded  gracefully  to  the  inevitable, 
and  for  a  number  of  years  was  a  superannuate; 
but,  according  to  his  own  desire,  never  received  an 
allowance,  as  he  had  an  ample  estate  for  his  own 
support.  These  amiable  idiosyncracies  were 
creditable  to  both,  and  are  mentioned  simply  as 
matters  of  historj'. 


56  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

For  some  years  before  his  ascension  he  was  a 
complete  wreck,  resulting  from  parah^sis.  All 
through  this  sad  period  of  suffering  he  bore  him- 
self with  great  humility,  much  beloved  by  thou- 
sands of  his  friends  and  warmly  cherished  by  his 
devoted  wife  and  children. 

One  of  the  most  touching  scenes  I  ever  witnessed 
was  a  visit  he  made  to  the  First  Baptist  Church  in 
Atlanta  that  he  might  see  and  hear  Mr.  Moody, 
the  great  evangelist.  He  was  carried  into  the 
church  by  the  assistance  of  his  friends,  and  was 
held  up  in  their  arms  that  he  might  see  the  dis. 
tinguished  speaker.  It  was  possibly  his  last  appear- 
ance in  the  sanctuary',  where  in  the  days  of  his 
strength,  he  had  so  often  preached  with  over- 
whelming power.  It  struck  me  as  a  fitting  close  to 
a  life  of  spotless  purity  and  remarkable  useful- 
ness. 


JOSIAH  LEWIS,  JR. 

Josiah  Lewis,  Jr.,  was  a  youth  of  mark  and  like- 
lihood from  the  day  of  his  graduation. 

Not  a  few  of  his  wisest  friends  predicted  for 
him  a  brilliant  career,  which  unhappily  was  cut 
short  by  a  premature  death.     Whether  occupying 


OF   MINISTERS    AND   LAYMEN.  57 

the  professor's  chair  or  the  pulpit  he  was  evidently 
a  man  of  superior  gifts  and  of  large  resources. 
As  chancellor  of  the  Southern  University  he  proved 
himself  a  man  of  excellent  administrative  ability, 
enjoying  the  esteem  and  confidence  of  the  faculty, 
and  of  the  board  of  trustees.  Circumstances 
which  he  could  not  control  led  to  his  resignation, 
and  to  his  entrance  on  the  pastoral  work.  For 
three  years  he  had  charge  of  the  church  and  con- 
gregation of  LaGrange,  where  he  won  golden 
opinions  from  all  the  Christian  denominations. 
His  health,  which  had  been  declining  for  several 
years,  retired  him  from  the  active  ministry  to  his 
own  discomfort,  and  to  the  regret  of  the  whole 
conference. 

I  heard  him  preach  but  two  sermons,  both  of 
which  were  of  a  high  order  indicative  of  scholar- 
ship and  of  thorough  consecration  to  the  service  of 
the  gospel. 

He  had  both  intellectual  and  moral  integrity. 
In  some  instances  these  qualities  are  disjoined, 
and  in  all  such  cases  there  is  the  lack  of  a  well 
rounded  character.  Like  his  venerable  father, 
Josiah  Lewis,  Sr.,  he  had  a  moral  courage  that 
never  cowered  in  the  face  of  criticism  or  opposition. 

A  few  weeks  before  his  death  I  spent  an  hour  in 
conversation  with  him  at  the  old  homestead  in  the 
vicinity  of  Sparta.  He  had  but  little  expectation 
of  recovery  from  the    sickness    that    was    slowlv 


58  BIOGRAPHIC     ETCHINGS 

but  steadily  sapping  the  foundations  of  his  life, 
but  his  resignation  to  the  divine  will  was   perfect. 

Before  separating  we  joined  in  prayer  at  the 
home  altar,  and  at  the  close  of  our  interview  he 
spoke  of  the  heavenly  rest  which  awaited  him, 
while  tears  of  gladness  sparkled  in  his  e3res. 

It  is  no  fulsome  praise  to  say  that,  take  him  all 
in  all,  the  conference  has  seldom  had  his  superior 
on  its  roll  of  honored  and  illustrious  men. 


ROBERT  WARREN  DIXON. 

Robert  Warren  Dixon  was  admitted  into  the 
conference  in  December,  1856.  His  first  appoint- 
ment was  the  Hamilton  circuit,  and  his  last  the 
Thomasville  district.  During  the  intervening 
years  he  served  several  of  the  best  circuits  and 
stations,  and  was  very  highly  esteemed,  both  in 
the  pulpit  and  pastorate. 

While  he  was  not  eminent  for  intellectual  gifts, 
he  was  an  all-round  man  whose  usefulness  exceeded 
a  large  number  who  were  more  widely  known 
and  more  liberally  applauded.  He  was  studious  in 
his  habits,  and  there  is  little  doubt  but  that  too 
much  reading  by  lamplight  brought  the  eye  trou- 
ble that  ended  in   his   ministerial  disqualification. 


OF   MINISTERS   AND    LAYMEN.  59 

My  association  with  Bro.  Dixon  was  limited,  but 
I  saw  and  heard  enough  of  him  to  admire  his  excel- 
lent character. 

Col.  Herbert  Felder,  of  Cuthbert,  has  made  this 
record  of  him  which  deserves  to  be  perpetuated. 
This  distinguished  jurist  characterizes  him  in  the 
words  following:  "A  man  of  study  and  research 
in  all  that  pertains  to  true,  Christian  philosophy, 
of  masterly  intellect  and  commanding  eloquence, 
mature  judgment  and  mild  but  unyielding  de- 
cision. His  public  and  private  life  without  re- 
proach and  in  harmony  with  his  sacred  office." 


W.  D.  MARTIN. 

Rev.  W.  D.  Martin  was  in  charge  of  the  Harris 
circuit  during  the  period  of  my  adolescence.  I  was 
frequently  drawn  to  the  church  by  his  ministry, 
and  while  1  was  not  religiously  impressed  by  his 
preaching,  I  greatly  enjoyed  his  original  manner 
of  presenting  and  enforcing  the  doctrines  of 
Methodism. 

My  recollection  is  that  he  was  associated  in  the 
work  of  the  circuit  with  Rev.  Ben  Clark,  who  was 
possibly  a  reformed  inebriate,  certainly  one  of  a 
class  whom  Bunyan  was  wont  to  call  a  "Jerusalem 


60  BIOGKAPHIC     ETCHINGS 

sinner."  They  were  good  yoke-fellows  in  the 
ministry,  but  their  pulpit  methods  were  quite  dis- 
similar. Brother  Martin  was  educated  to  an  ex- 
tent not  usual  with  the  Methodist  clergy  of  fifty 
years  ago.  Neither  in  garb  nor  manner  was  he  a 
typical  preacher  of  the  old  school,  but  he  was  not 
wanting  in  evangelistic  fervor  nor  in  genuine 
humility. 

On  the  other  hand,  "Uncle  Ben,"  as  he  was  affec- 
tionately styled,  was  decidedly  illiterate,  but  had 
a  boundless  zeal,  a  volume  of  voice  only  equalled 
by  that  most  excellent  man  and  useful  preacher, 
Wesley  P.  Arnold. 

"Uncle  Ben"  had  no  conception  of  a  syllogism, 
but  he  had  an  experience  that  was  worth  more 
than  logic  in  moving  the  masses  of  a  backwoods 
congregation.  This  personal  experience,  which  he 
knew  how  to  relate  with  telling  effect,  made  his 
congregations  both  laugh  and  cry,  a  result  that  I 
could  not  then  well  understand.  But,  blessed  be 
God,  this  spiritual  phenomenonis  no  longer  a  mys- 
tery. 

But  I  find  mj'self  drifting  away  from  the  matter 
in  hand.  Coming  back  to  Brother  Martin,  we  re- 
member to  have  met  him  and  to  have  had  much 
pleasant  intercourse  with  him  when  we  were  both 
serving  on  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  LaGrange 
Female  College.  He  was  a  man  of  fine,  practical 
sense,  and  at  one  of  the  annual  meetings  of  the 
board,  we  co-operated  in  defeating    an    effort    to 


OF    MINISTERS    AND    LAYMEN.  61 

restrict  the  mathematical  course  of  the  college  to 
arithmetic,  with  a  smattering  of  algebra  and 
geometry. 

It  may  have  been  at  this  time  that  I  took  tea 
with  him  at  the  hospitable  home  of  Uncle  George 
Heard,  the  father  of  Rev.  Peter  Heard  and  of 
Mrs.James  M.  Beall. 

Brother  Martin  was,  through  much  of  his  life,  a 
great  sufferer  from  nervous  debility.  This  afflic- 
tion compelled  his  retirement  from  the  itinerant 
ministry.  He  died  may  years  ago  on  his  farm 
near  Greenville, Georgia.  His  widow  still  lingers, 
waiting  the  call  of  the  Master.  Her  son,  who  has 
man}'  of  his  father's  traits  and  accomplishments, 
is  at  the  old  homestead,  and  is  the  stay  of  his  aged 
mother. 


JACKSON  P.  TURNER. 

One  of  the  most  gifted  and  devotedly  pious 
ministers  of  his  day  was  Jackson  P.  Turner.  I 
have  no  vivid  recollection  of  his  preaching,  except 
possibly,  his  second  year  in  the  ministry.  He  was 
reared,  like  many  of  our  best  preachers,  in  North- 
eastern Georgia,  and  despite  his  lack  of  early  edu- 
cational advantages,  he  became  a  man  of  reputa- 


62  BIOGRAPHIC     ETCHINGS 

ble  scholarship.  I  have  been  told  that  while  he 
was  an  industrious  student,  yet  he  learned  seem- 
ingly by  intuition. 

His  speaking  gifts  were  of  a  high  order,  but 
more  solid  than  showy.  With  these  pulpit  endow- 
ments, he  combined  an  administrative  ability  which 
made  him  a  most  efficient  and  popular  presiding 
elder. 

The  late  Rev.  James  B.  Jackson,  who  was  him- 
self a  capable  and  conscientious  critic,  regarded 
him  as  one  of  the  great  lights  of  the  conference. 
He  often  spoke  of  him  to  me  as  next  in  rank  to 
Billy  Parks  and  Walker  Glenn  as  an  ecclesiastical 
jurist.  He  thought  that  but  for  his  early  death 
he  might  have  reached  the  highest  position  in  the 
church.  I  never  heard  him  preach  after  his 
second  year  in  the  conference,  but  even  then  he 
gave  promise  of  great  excellence  as  a  preacher. 
I  have  understood  that  he  exhibited  a  fondness 
for  controversy  that  discounted  him  in  some  de- 
gree, but  on  what  special  lines  I  am  not  definitely 
informed.  It  was  nothing,  however,  which  af- 
fected his  ministerial  standing  or  general  accepta- 
bilitv. 


OF   MINISTERS   AND    LAYMEN.  63 


W.  H.  EVANS. 

W.  H.  Evans  belonged  to  a  somewhat  later 
period  in  the  conference.  He  was  less  widely 
known  than  his  more  distinguished  brother, 
James  E.  Evans,  but  was  himself  a  man  of  excel- 
lent gifts.  I  came  but  little  in  contact  with  him 
in  my  early  ministry,  but  was  well  acquainted 
with  his  reputation  as  an  indefatigable  worker  in 
planting  and  building  churches.  Many  years  ago 
Atlanta  was,  for  a  time,  the  field  of  his  ministry, 
where  he  won  all  hearts  by  his  gentleness  and  good- 
ness. Evans1  Chapel,  since  called  Walker  Street 
church,  was  named  for  him.  While  engaged  in 
founding  that  church,  he  was  greatly  assisted  bv 
Rev.  Lewis  Lawshe,  one  of  the  most  enterprising 
and  esteemed  local  preachers  known  in  the  history 
of  Atlanta  Methodism. 

My  most  intimate  acquaintance  with  Brother 
Evans  was  when  he  was  presiding  elder  of  the  La- 
Grange  district.  While  he  was  serving  on  that 
district,  I  was  called  to  preach  the  commence- 
ment sermon  at  the  LaGrange  Female  College. 
Brother  Evans  held  the  reins,  and  against  my 
vigorous  protest,  he  required  me  to  conduct  both 
preaching  services  and  to  fill  an  afternoon  appoint- 
ment at  which  that  grand  man,  Bishop  Andrew, 
was  to  have  officiated.     I    was    struck    with    his 


64  BIOGRAPHIC     ETCHINGS 

good-humored  persistence,  and  had  finally  to  suc- 
cumb. I  said  to  him  that  he  was  a  born  ruler, 
with  a  bit  of  Napoleonism  in  his  make-up. 

During  the  next  two  or  three  da37s  of  the  com- 
mencement exercises  I  ver\r  much  enjoyed  his 
genial  fellowship.  Strangely  enough,  I  never 
heard  one  of  his  sermons  which,  I  was  informed, 
were  uniformly  edifying  and  enjo3rable. 

From  that  time  onward  our  paths  seldom 
crossed,  and  I  only  met  him  at  the  sessions  of  the 
Annual  Conference.  He  was  then  in  vigorous 
health  and  bade  fair  to  attain  a  serene  old  age.  I 
am  informed,  however,  that  not  many  years  there- 
after his  physical  strength  commenced  to  wane, 
and  that,  in  Oxford,  he  died  suddenly,  but  of  a  lin- 
gering disease,  and  was  buried  at  Oxford,  Georgia. 

He  was  a  lovable  man  in  all  the  relations  of  life, 
and  his  death  was  much  regretted  by  thousands 
of  our  best  people  of  all  denominations. 


W.  A.  FLORENCE. 

When  I  first  knew  William  A.  Florence  he  was 
the  Principal  of  a  flourishing  acadetm7  at  Mc_ 
Donough,  Georgia.  He  was  then  in  the  local 
ranks  and  a  preacher  of  considerable  popularity  in 
the  village.  Some  years  afterwards,  perhaps  in 
1844,  he  entered  the  conference  and  for  along  term 
of  years  was  quite  effective  as  an  itinerant. 


OF    MINISTERS   AM    LAYMEN.  65 

Few  men  in  the  conference  were  his  superiors  in 
Biblical  knowledge  or  general  information.  A 
smaller  number  still  were  better  qualified  to  dis- 
cuss the  distinctive  tenets  and  usages  of  Method- 
ism or,  when  occasion  demanded,  to  deal  sledge 
hammer  blowsat  the  dogmas  of  Calvinism. 
This  was  all  done,  however,  in  good  temper  and 
rarely  offended  those  who  differed  with  him.  In- 
deed, he  possessed  beyond  most  men  the  ''orna- 
ment of  a  meek  and  quiet  spirit,"  and  if  he  had 
enemies  the}-  w^ere  ashamed  to  avow  it.  No  mem- 
ber of  the  conference  kept  a  closer  watch  on  the 
proceedings  of  the  annual  session,  and  yet  strange- 
ly enough  he  never  seemed  to  understand  the  drift 
of  the  discussion  or  the  precise  status  of  the  busi- 
ness in  hand.  His  mistakes  were  sometimes  ludi- 
crous. He  was  clearly  not  fitted  for  the  wrork  of  a 
parliamentary  leader,  and  yet,  like  some  others  we 
have  known,  he  wTas  frequentl\r  on  the  floor.  But 
he  had  the  grace  and  good  sense  to  yield  when  some 
shrewder  parliamentarian  knocked  him  out  of  the 
arena  b\T  a  good-natured  witticism. 

In  the  pulpit,  where  no  reply  was  allowed,  he 
spoke  consecutively,  compactly,  and,  as  we  have 
already  intimated,  with  pith  and  power. 

Brother  Florence,  in  the  closing  years  of  his 
pilgrimage,  became  more  and  more  Christlike  in 
his  personal  bearing  in  the  church  and  in  the  com- 
munity. In  1876,  at  the  ripe  age  of  seventy-two, 
he  died  in  great  peace  at  Social  Circle. 


66  BIOGRAPHIC     ETCHINGS 


MILLER  H.  WHITE. 

Miller  H.  White  was  a  member  of  the  conference 
for  more  than  a  full  half  century.  From  the  be- 
ginning of  his  ministry  he  exhibited  a  preaching 
gift  that  was  unusual  and  that  gave  promise  of  no 
little  distinction.  During  this  time  he  occupied 
several  prominent  positions.  But  disease  of  a 
bronchial  sort  arrested  him  almost  at  the  thresh- 
old of  his  maturer  life,  and  he  ceased  to  be  effect- 
ive for  quite  a  number  of  years.  During  this  inter- 
val he  became  highly  useful  and  even  successful  as 
a  medical  practitioner,  at  the  same  time  serving, 
as  he  had  strength  enough,  the  churches  where  he 
resided.  Several  years,  howrever,  before  his  death, 
he  so  far  recovered  his  health  that  he  was  made 
effective. 

It  was  in  this  last  period  that  I  became  best 
acquainted  with  him,  and  on  two  occasions 
traveled  with  him  around  his  circuit,  alternating 
with  him  in  the  work.  I  learned  to  love  him 
much  because  of  his  brotherly  kindness.  I  saw  in 
these  3rears  the  proofs  ot  his  ministerial  ability. 
There  was  no  little  in  his  style  to  remind  one  of 
Bishop  Pierce  in  his  latter  days.  Indeed,  in  tone 
and  gesture,  and  even  facial  expression,  Dr.  White 
might  have  almost  passed  for  a  twin  brother  of 
the  great  bishop.     I  have  sometimes  thought  that 


OF    MINISTERS   AND    LAYMEN.  67 

his  intense  admiration  for  the  bishop,  and  his  life- 
long intimacy  with  him,  may  have  influenced  him 
to  imbibe,  unconsciously  to  himself,  somewhat  of 
the  bishop's  mannerism. 

Dr.  White,  when  I  last  saw  him,  began  to  show 
signs  of  failing  health,  and  yet  he  lingered  for 
awhile  in  the  borderland,  having  reached  the  ad- 
vanced age  of  nearly  fourscore  years  at  his  death 
in  1891,  in  Grantville,  Ga. 


JOHN  COLLINSWORTH  AND  LEWIS  H. 

MYERS. 

John  Collinsworth  and  Lewis  H.  Myers  were 
recognized  leaders  in  the  old  South  Carolina  Con- 
ference, but  their  ministry  was  almost  exclusive!}' 
in  Georgia.  Both  of  them  were  sticklers  for  the 
old  time  usages  of  Methodism,  and  they  stood 
squarely  and  unflinchingly  for  the  enforcement  of 
its  discipline.  Myers  was  the  abler  man  of  the 
two,  and  for  many  years  was  a  delegate  to  the 
General  Conference,  holding  a  conspicuous  rank  in 
the  committee  on  Episcopacy.  As  Collinsworth 
opposed  the  brass  buttons  of  George  Pierce,  so 
did  Father  Myers  protest  against  the  premature 
marriage  of  James  0.  Andrew. 


(38  BIOGRAPHIC     ETCHINGS 

The  tribe  of  these  veterans  is  now  extinct. 
Allen  Turner  was  the  last  representative  of  this 
class,  and  made  his  last  conference  fight  on  Alfred 
T.  Mann  for  shaving  on  Sunday— at  the  confer- 
ence of  1854. 

Uncle  Allen  was  nonplussed  when  Capers,  the 
presiding  bishop,  stated  that  the  English  Wesley- 
ans  were  nearly  all  in  the  same  condemnation. 
Thereupon  Uncle  Allen  groaned  audibly,  which 
performance  brought  a  smile  to  the  face  of  Sara 
Anthony,  and  even  Uncle  Billy  Parks  relaxed  the 
muscles  of  his  usually  stern  visage. 

Let  us  not  cease  to  revere  the  memories  of  these 
fathers  in  Israel,  who,  after  all,  were  giants  in  the 
earlier  years  of  the  present  century. 

A  little  more  of  their  conservatism  in  this  pro- 
gressive age  might  save  the  Church  from  evils  that 
disturb  its  peace  and  menace  its  stability. 


JOHN  M.  BONNELL. 

JohnM.  Bonnell  was  a  handsome  and  a  scholarly 
young  Pennsylvanian,  who  joined  the  conference 
in  1846. 

He  speedily  became  quite  a  favorite  with  the 
brethren  of  the  ministry  and  laity. 


OF   MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  69 

While  his  pulpit  gifts  were  much  above  the 
average,  he  soon  developed  an  educational  capac- 
ity that  made  it  desirable  that  the  Church  should 
have  his  service  in  that  direction. 

No  man,  indeed,  of  that  period,  contributed 
more  to  organize  public  sentiment  in  favor  of  the 
higher  education  throughout  the  state. 

He  had  thoroughly  mastered  the  theory  of  peda- 
gogies before  the  word  itself  had  come  into  popu- 
lar use,  and  when  as  yet  its  signification,  and 
still  less  its  full  import,  was  comprehended  by 
professional  teachers.  He  contributed  a  paper  of 
great  merit  to  Scott's  Monthly  Magazine  on  the 
study  of  English  Grammar,  which  attracted  much 
attention. 

He  had,  in  a  striking  degree,  an  analytical  mind, 
as  shown  in  all  his  published  discussions  of  the 
methods  of  teaching. 

His  best  work  as  a  teacher  was  done  in  the  pres- 
idency of  the  Wesley  an  Female  College,  and  he 
has  left  his  impress  on  thatnobleinstitution,  whose 
work  for  a  half  century  has  been  a  benefaction  to 
Southern  Methodism. 

Dr.  Bonnell,  never  in  vigorous  health,  died  in 
1873,  being  literally  exhausted  by  his  abundant 
labors  in  behalf  of  education. 

He  was  a  high-toned  and  sweet-spirited  Chris- 
tian gentleman,  whose  great  worth  will  be  better 
appreciated  as  the  \rears  go  by. 


'0  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 


WESLEY  P.  PLEDGER. 

Wesley  P.  Pledger  was  my  conference  classmate, 
and  for  that  reason,  in  part,  I  watched  his  minis- 
terial career  with  deep  interest,  and  toward  its  close 
with  painful  solicit  tide.  Hehad  the  "genius  of  ges- 
ture" and  no  mean  gift  of  oratory.  If  in  early 
life  he  had  enjoyed  the  advantage  of  thorough 
mental  training,  he  would  have  impressed  his 
generation  hardly  less  than  some  of  the  most 
distinguished  men  of  the  conference.  Like  other 
gifted  men,  Brother  Pledger  inherited  a  perilous, 
nervous  temperament  which  embittered  and  final- 
ly wrecked  his  useful  life.  His  occasional  rest- 
lessness of  disposition,  which  was  at  times  the 
subject  matter  of  ungracious  comment,  was  the 
outcome  of  disease.  For  two  or  three  years  be- 
fore his  sad  death  he  needed  the  rest  and  regimen 
of  a  first-class  sanitarium.  I  urged  him  when  on 
the  Rome  district,  where  he  was  greatly  beloved 
and  admired,  to  desist  for  at  least  a  twelve 
month  from  pulnit  work. 

Others  of  his  closest  friends  approved  the  sugges- 
tion, but  he  failed  to  realize  the  imminency  of  his 
peril. 

Brother  P.  was  in  the  main  a  charming  preacher, 
and  there  were  occasions  when  his  declamation 
had  some  of  the  ring  and  range  of  Bishop  Pierce. 


OF    MINISTERS   AND    LAYMEN.  71 

He  struggled  heroically  against  what  appeared  to 
be  manifest  destiny,  but  "Stern  melancholy  had 
marked  him  for  her  own,"  and  he  went  forward 
slowly  and  }Tet  steadily  to  the  final  scene. 

Let  it  not  be  supposed,  however,  that  his  was 
altogether  a  blighted  life.  In  the  spirit  world  he 
met  hundreds  who  were  brought  to  Christ  by  his 
ministry'.  Long  since  has  he  forgotten  the  trials 
of  the  way  in  the  raptures  of  his  glorified  estate. 


GEO.  H.  PATTILLO. 

Geo.H.  Pattillo  belonged  to  the  fourth  generation 
of  Georgia  preachers.  In  1860  he  rendered  me 
valuable  service  in  a  gracious  meeting  atMilledge- 
ville,  the  memory  of  which  is  still  fresh  and  fra- 
grant to  many  of  the  citizens  of  the  "old  capital." 

He  was  from  that  time  my  fast,  personal  friend, 
and,  although  he  was  quite  young,  I  recognized  in 
his  preaching  the  promise  and  potency  of  great 
pulpit  usefulness. 

Brother  Patillo  was  an  Emory  student,  and  the 
effects  of  his  collegiate  training  were  visible  in  his 
ministry.  He  indulged  in  few  oratorical  flights, 
but  was  practical  in  a  remarkable  degree  in  the 
trend  of  his  thought   and  the  manner   of  its  pres- 


72  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

entation.  His  vSermons  were  edifying,  which  is 
but  another  word  for  uplifting,  or,  better  still, 
upbuilding.  He  was  careful,  however,  to  lay  the 
right  foundation,  and,  as  a  consequence,  the 
structure  he  reared  was  neither  rocked  nor  racked 
by  the  fury  of  the  winds  or  the  turbulence  of  the 
waves.  Religious  character,  as  he  shaped  it,  was 
neither  the  card  house  of  the  nursery  nor  the  air- 
castle  of  the  visionary. 

Unfortunately  he  embarked  at  one  period  of  his 
life  in  secular  enterprises  of  a  reputable  sort,  but 
we  doubt  if  they  contributed  anything  either  to 
his  fame  or  fortune. 

This,  however,  was  but  a  brief  divergence.  He 
returned  to  his  loved  employ  with  a  larger  equip- 
ment and  a  fuller  consecration.  It  is  probable 
that  the  latter  years  of  his  laborious  life,  especially 
when  serving  on  districts,  were  the  most  fruitful 
of  his  ministry. 

Meanwhile,  his  hard  work  had  made  its  impress 
on  a  constitution  not  originally  robust,  and  he 
began  to  totter  down  the  hill  of  life  to  an  early 
grave.  As  he  neared  the  end  his  personal  piety 
shone  with  increasing  lustre,  when,  after  a  rather 
protracted  illness,  the  silver  cord  was  loosed  and 
he  passed  away  with  a  lively  hope  of  the  heavenly 
rest. 


OF    MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  73 


GEORGE  E.  GARDINER. 

George  E.  Gardiner  was  another  minister  who 
died  early,  of  whom  it  might  be  soberly  said  that 
he  was  "a  gentleman  and  a  scholar."  Well  edu- 
cated at  the  outset,  he  was  quite  studious  in  his 
habits,  and  while  yet  young  he  had  mastered  a 
great  deal  of  the  best  literature  native  and 
foreign. 

He  was  elaborate  in  pulpit  preparation,  and  his 
sermons,  while  lacking  somewhat  in  brilliancy 
were  noted  for  accuracy. 

He  was  not  wanting  in  the  social  instinct,  and 
was  everywhere  popular  as  a  pastor.  To  these 
excellent  qualifications  for  ministerial  usefulness 
he  added  a  personal  piety  that  secured  the  cordial 
esteem  of  all  classes  and  denominations. 

His  death,  long  before  he  had  reached  the  ma- 
turity of  his  intellectual  powers,  seemed  a  calamity 
to  the  church,  and  was  indeed  a  crushing  blow 
to  a  devoted  and  most  interesting  household.  His 
wife,  the  daughter  of  my  old  and  honored  friend, 
Hon.  H.  P.  Bell,  was  helpful  to  him  by  her  sjjiritual 
graces  and  mental  accomplishents.  Brother  G., 
when  looked  at  from  a  human  standpoint,  had  a 
most  inviting  prospect  before  him  ;  but  the  Mas- 
ter called,  and  he  was  ready  for  the  summons. 


BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 


JAMES  H.  BAXTER. 

Jaines  H.  Baxter,  whose  recent  death  was  so 
widely  and  deeply  regretted,  was  a  preacher  much 
above  the  general  average  of  the  conference,  both 
as  to  gifts  and  graces.  He  was  a  growing  man 
to   the  last  hour  of  his  existence. 

Some  year  ago,  I  was  lying  in  the  peachers' 
tent  during  the  Dal  ton  camp-meeting,  and  Brother 
Baxter  came  to  me  and  said:  "Bro.  Scott,  3'ou 
are  a  man  of  experience  in  the  ministry;  I 
wish  you  would  tell  me  what  was  wrong  in  the 
matter  and  style  of  my  sermon  last  night."  I 
replied:  "My  brother,  I  am  loth  to  criticise 
another  minister's  preaching,  but  as  you  have 
asked  me  a  direct  question  I  shall  make  a  cate- 
gorical answer.  The  matter  of  your  sermon  was 
better  than  I  looked  for  from  so  young  a  man;  in- 
deed, I  might  say  it  would  have  been  creditable  to 
a  much  older  head.  But  I  must  say  its  effect 
was  marred  by  your  carefulness  to  dot  every  land 
cross  every  T.  Give  yourself  more  latitude  in  re- 
gard to  comparative  trifles.  In  public  speaking, 
think  more  of  what  you  say  and  less  of  how  you 
say  it  and  you  will  realize  better  results."  He  re- 
ceived the  criticism  very  kindty  and  assured  me  he 
would  endeavor  to  profit  by  it.     He  told  me,  some 


OF    MINISTERS    AND   LAYMEN.  75 

years  afterwards,  that  it  had  been  of  great  ser- 
vice to  him. 

Brother  Baxter  was  rarely  at  his  best  as  a  sta- 
tioned preacher.  His  proper  place  was  the  presid- 
ing eldership,  in  which  responsible  office  he  was 
painstaking  and  progressive  beyond  most  of  his 
contemporaries. 

At  the  time  of  his  last  sickness  he  had  reached  a 
deservedly  prominent  position  in  this  office.  If  he 
had  been  spared  through  another  decade  he 
would  probably  have  ranked  with  theforemost  of 
his  class.  The  last  time  I  met  him  was  on  Peach- 
tree  street,  and  I  was  for  an  instant  startled  by 
his  ghastly  appearance.  He,  however,  seemed 
hopeful.  It  was  during  that  visit  to  Atlanta  that 
he  requested  Rev.  Dr.  Anderson  to  officiate  at  his 
funeral,  wherever  it  should  occur.  The  time  was 
indeed  close  at  hand  when  the  solemn  burial 
service  should  be  read  over  his  lifeless  and  ema- 
ciated bodv. 


RUSSELL  RENEAU. 

Rev.  Russell  Reneau.  was,  by  birth  and  breed- 
ing,  an  East  Tennesseean.  Like  very  many  of  his 
fellow  countrymen  of  that  Switzerland  of  America , 
he   was    of    stalwart    build   both  physically   and 


76  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

intellectually.  His  early  school  advantages  were 
fair,  and  these  were  made  the  basis  of  much  read- 
ing and  reflection  in  after  years.  He  was  in  mid- 
dle life  when  he  was  transferred  from  the  Holston 
to  the  Georgia  conference,  and  entered  at  once  on 
district  work  in  the  mountainous  section  of  the 
State.  While  he  was  but  little  known  at  his  com- 
ing, it  was  not  long  until  he  secured  recognition 
as  a  vigorous  thinker,  especially  on  the  line  of  a 
doctrinal  preacher. 

Forty  years  ago  East  Tennessee  was  an  excellent 
training  school  for  polemical  theology.  The  Bap- 
tists and  Presbyterians  were  both  eager  disputants, 
and  the  Methodist  itinerants  were  not  reluctant  to 
accept  the  gage  of  battle.  Rusell  Reneau  exhib- 
ited special  gifts  for  disputation,  and  was  fre- 
quently brought  forward  as  a  defender  of  the 
faith.    Almost  invariably  he  routed  his  adversary. 

Soon  after  his  arrival  in  Georgia  he  was  engaged 
in  a  public  discussion  with  C.  F.  Shehane,  a  Uni- 
versalis t  preacher  of  considerable  celebrity.  Not  a 
great  while  before  the  controversy,  I  dined  with 
Bro.  Reneau  in  Atlanta.  I  remarked  to  him  that 
Shehane — whom  I  had  personally  and  intimately 
known  when  he  figured  as  a  Bible  Christian — was 
an  adroit  debater,  and  he  would  seek  to  draw  him 
into  a  criticism  of  Greek  terms  and  Hebrew  roots. 
I  shall  never  forget  his  broad  smile,  as  he  replied  : 
1  'Never  be  uneasy,  Brother  Scott.  I  promise  you  to 


OF   MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  77 

make  him  thoroughly  sick  of  his  Greek  and  Hebrew 
before  I  am  through  with  him." 

Reneau's  friends  claimed  that  in  the  debate  which 
followed,  Shehanee,  to  borrow  a  slang  phrase 
of  the  prize  ring,  was  "severely  punished."  Whether 
any  real  good  came  of  the  contest  is  exceedingly 
questionable,  but  it  produced  almost  as  big  a  sen- 
sation as  the  "Great  Iron  Wheel"  controversy  be- 
tween Graves  and  Brownlow. 

Let  it  not  be  inferred  that  this  controversial 
trend  of  Bro.  Reneau's  mind  unfitted  him  for 
general  pulpit  usefulness.  As  a  preacher  on  the 
evidences  and  cardinal  doctrines  of  Christianity, 
he  was  surpassed  by  few  of  his  day. 

Unluckily  for  himself,  however,  and  for  the 
church,  he  drifted  into  journalism,  and  at  a  later 
period,  into  curious  speculations  about  Second  Ad- 
ventism.  Shortly  after  this  new  departure  he 
took  Greely's  advice  and  went  West,  where  he 
died,  I  believe  in  the  presiding  eldership. 

Under  a  rough  exterior  he  carried  a  heart  as 
generous  as  ever  throbbed  in  a  human  breast.  His 
charity  was  as  broad  as  humanity,  but  never,  at 
any  time  or  anywhere,  was  he  willing  to  compro- 
mise with  religious  or  political  error. 

One  of  his  strangest  fancies  was  the  writing  and 
publication  of  a  volume  which  he  named  "The 
Reign  of  Satan."  It  was  certainly  a  dolorous 
picture  of  the  times,  and  would  have  satisfied  the 
inmost  soul   of    Schopenhaur,  the    high-priest    of 


78  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

pessimism.  It  is  long  since  out  of  print,  nor  is  its 
ghost  ever  likely  "to  revisit  the  pale  glimpses  of  the 
moon." 

This  much  deserves,  in  conclusion,  to  be  said  of 
him,  that  all  through  his  arduous  wayfaring  of 
sixty  odd  years,  he  never  shrunk  from  any  peril 
or  hardship  that  confronted  him  in  the  path  of 
duty.  He  died  as  he  had  lived,  a  staunch  Method- 
ist in  his  religion  and  a  typical  Whig  in  his  poli- 
tics. 


GEORGE  BRIGHT. 

George  Bright  was  a  preacher  of  like  gifts  with 
Russell  Reneau.  They  were  both  men  of  rather 
coarse  intellectual  fibre,  and  were  both  admirably 
fitted  for  the  rough-and-tumble  fight  of  the  old 
time  itineracy.  Such  men  are  not  yet  antiquated 
but  the  demand  for  them  is  less  urgent  than  in  the 
Arcadian  days  when  there  was  less  of  what  is  now 
called  culture.  It  would  be  a  fool's  bargain, 
however,  to  exchange  that  heroic  virtue  for  what 
the  sage  of  Chelsea  was  wont  to  style  dilletanteism, 
limp  alike  in  brain  and  muscle.  Brother  Bright 
spent  the  greater  portion  of  his  life  on  big  circuits, 
and  mountain  districts.    In  these  localities  he  was 


OF    MINISTERS    AND    LAYMEN.  79 

greatly  admired  for  his  abilit}r,  nor  less  so  for  his 
aggressiveness,  which  has  left  an  abiding  impress 
on  that  whole  section  of  the  State.  Out  of  his 
labors,  and  those  of  his  contemporaries  has  come, 
in  part  at  least,  the  great  educational  movement 
which  has  developed  into  the  Young  Harris  Insti- 
tute, and  the  Reinhardt  Normal  School. 

Our  personal  association  with  him  was  confined 
to  the  Annual  Conference  session,  and  we  are 
poorly  qualified  to  speak  of  him  from  personal 
observation.  The  statements,  however,  of  others 
who  had  better  opportunities  of  knowing  him,  are 
of  a  flattering  sort. 

His  preaching  was  logical,  and  yet  there  was  no 
lack  of  a  native  eloquence  that  sometimes  stirred 
the  multitude  like  a  "war-denouncing  trumpet." 
Toward  the  close  of  his  life  I  was  brought  in 
closer  contact  with  him  and  learned  to  love  him, 
not  only  for  his  sturdy  manliness,  but  for  his  gen- 
tler traits.  As  often  happens,  increase  of  years 
had  mellowed  his  spirit,  and  I  could  hardly  realize 
that  he  was  altogether  made  of  the  "sterner 
stuff"  of  which  I  had  heard  no  little  in  the  earlier 
days  of  my  own  ministry. 

On  one  or  more  occasions  afterward  I  heard 
him  preach  with  great  earnestness  and  power. 
But  while  he  was  virile  he  was  not  virulent  in 
speech  or  manner. 

Brother  George  Bright  was  an  elder  brother  of 
John  M.  Bright,  who,  in  the  days  of  his  strength, 


BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

was  also  an  able  minister.  Barring  some  eccentric- 
ities that  marred  his  usefulness,  his  conference 
record  was  without  blemish. 

I  wish  I  had  more  data  in  regard  to  these  two 
brothers,  but  I  have  not.  Nor,  do  I  know  at  this 
present  writing  where  or  how  I  conld  procure  the 
needful  information. 


J.  B.  C.  QUILLIAN. 

J.  B.  C.  Ouillian  was  quite  a  favorite  with  all 
classes  oi  North  Georgia  people,  whether  in  the 
pulpit  or  at  the  fireside.  Meek  in  spirit,  he  disarmed 
all  opposition,  and  old  and  young  had  always  a 
pleasant  word  to  say  about  "Uncle  Chap." 

At  times,  brother  0.  was  a  preacher  of  rare  ex- 
cellence. His  style  was.  it  may  be,  a  trine  too  or- 
nate, having  a  kind  of  family  likeness  to  Dr.  Lat- 
ta's  "Sacred  Wonder^."  When  fully  aroused,  he 
had  a  sing-song  delivery,  deeply  pathetic  we  might 
say,  weird  as  autumn  winds  as  they  wail  through 
a  forest  at  midnight. 

These  seemed  to  be  his  moments  of  inspiration  ; 
and  on  these  occasions  he  stirred  deeply  the  relig- 
ious sensibilities  of  his  hearers. 


OF   MINISTERS    AND   LAYMEN.  81 

Brother  Q.  dearly  loved  a  camp-meeting,  and 
several  times  in  the  years  gone  have  we  had 
pleasant  talks  at  the  door  of  the  preachers'  tent, 
long  after  the  entire  encampment  was  wrapped  in 
silence  and  sleep. 

He  had  read  quite  extensively  in  early  English 
literature,  and  his  writings  and  sermons  were  in- 
terspersed with  choice  quotations  from  some  of 
the  best  of  these  old  masters.  He  was  the 
author  of  several  small  volumes  that  were  read 
with  much  interest  both  in  town  and  country. 

With  better  health,  he  might  have  been  immensely 
useful;  but  even  as  it  was,  he  was  a  blessing  to 
thousands,  having  learned  "in  suffering,  what  he 
taught  in  song  and  sermon." 


ALEXANDER  MEANS,  D.  D.,L.L.D. 

Alexander  Means  held  a  deservedly  high  rank  in 
the  Methodist  ministry  of  forty  years  ago.  He 
was  distinguished  for  scholarship,  chiefly,  however, 
in  the  line  of  physical  science.  In  chemistry  he  was 
not  less  an  expert  than  was  the  Elder  Silliman,  of 
Yale — and  in  astronomy  he  might  be  fairly  likened 
to  Dr.  Dick,  whose  "sidereal  heavens"  has  always 
been  the  delight  of  the  average  star-gazer. 


82  BIOGEAPHIC   ETCHINGS 

Dr.  Means  was  at  his  best  when  discussing  from 
the  platform  some  educational  or  moral  question 
which  allowed  him  to  utilize  his  vast  scientific  ac- 
quirements. He  was  all  his  life,  a  zealous  advo- 
cate of  popular  education,  and  his  contributions 
to  the  press  did  much  to  help  forward  a  move- 
ment which,  in  these  latter  days,  is  crowned  with 
success. 

He  was  moreover,  one  of  the  earliest  and  ablest 
champions  of  the  temperance  reform,  and  stood 
shoulder  to  shoulder  with  Chief  Justice  Lumpkin 
and  Dabney  P.  Jones  when  they  were  paving  the 
way  to  the  local  option  triumphs  of  recent  years, 
which  have  well-nigh  rid  the  State  of  the  licensed 
whiskey  trafic. 

Dr.  Means  was  only  in  a  nominal  sense  a  mem- 
ber of  the  annual  conference,  but  he  w^as  abundant 
in  ministerial  labors,  and  frequently  occupied  our 
best  pulpits.  In  this  capacity  he  was  immensely 
popular,  and  by  very  many  was  regarded  as  one 
of  the  great  lights  of  Georgia  Methodism. 

He  was,  much  of  his  life,  connected  with  the 
faculty  of  Emory  College,  of  which  institution 
he  was  a  devoted  friend  until  his  dying  day. 

During  many  years  he  was  an  honored  member 
of  the  faculty  of  the  Georgia  Medical  College  of 
Augusta,  and  this  writer  has  often  heard  the 
alumni  of  that  institution  speak  of  his  inimitable 
lectures  on  chemistry,  and  his  masterly  manipula- 
tion of  the  apparatus    of    the    laboratory.     Like 


OF    MINISTERS    AND    LAYMEN.  83 

his  old  friend,  Judge  Longstreet,  he  was  fond 
of  music,  and  was  quite  as  gifted  with  his  violin 
as  Longstreet  was  with  his  flute.  Dr.  Means  was 
an  occasional  writer  of  verses,  which  were  not  of 
the  highest  order,  but  by  no  means  lacking  in  liter- 
ary merit.  A  few  of  his  hymns  are  still  found  in 
the  old  collections  of  sacred  songs,  and  are  still 
sung  with  delight  around  the  old  camp-fires  of 
Methodism. 

If  he  had  been  less  exhuberant  in  metaphor,  his 
reputation  in  literature  and  oratory  would  have 
been  wider  and  more  enduring. 

Georgia  Methodism  will,  at  least  for  another 
century,  cherish  the  memory  of  his  noble  virtues 
and  splendid  abilities. 


ALLEN  TURNER. 

"Uncle  Allen  Turner"  was  one  of  the  fathers  of 
the  conference  long  before  I  was  admitted  on 
trial.  At  our  first  interview7,  he  rallied  me  on  my 
whiskers,  which  he  regarded  as  decidedly  un- 
Methodistic.  This  he  did,  however,  in  a  half 
humorous  way,  which  robbed  the  criticism  of  its 
sting.  Dear  old  man,  he  was  an  "Israelite  indeed  ;" 
and  while  there  were  peculiarities    that  bordered 


84  MIOGRAPHIC     ETCHINGS 

on  crankiness,  he  was  treated  by  the  older  and 
younger  brethren  with  the  utmost  reverence.  There 
was  a  saintliness  in  the  expression  of  his  face 
which  I  never  saw  in  any  other  man.  It  was  not 
long-facedness,  still  less  was  it  sour  godliness,  it 
rather  resembled  the  expression  which  is  seen  in 
the  pictures  of  Medieval  saints.  "Uncle  Allen's" 
earW  ministry  was  prosecuted  in  the  face  of  priva- 
tions and  hardships  that  would  have  staggered 
the  faith  and  shaken  the  constancy  of  many  of  us 
that  came  after  him.  But  neither  the  perils  of  the 
wilderness,  nor  scant  salaries,  drove  him  from  the 
field.  When  at  last  physically  disabled,  he  bowed 
gracefully  to  the  action  of  the  conference,  and  re- 
tired from  the  effective  list.  He  lingered  some 
years,  occasionally  preaching  and  exhorting  with 
great  power,  and  died  at  a  ripe  age  without  a 
single  blot  on  his  name. 


CHARLES  R.  JEWETT. 

Charles  R.  Jewett  had  a  pious  and  intelligent 
ancestry — fair  scholarship — a  pleasing  address 
and  no  mean  oratorical  gifts. 

There  was,  however,  a  declamatory  drift  in  his 
sermonizing  which  impaired  his    efficiency    in    the 


OF   MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  85 

pulpit.  Quite  a  number  of  the  educated  young 
men  of  his  day  affected — it  may  be  unconsciously 
— this  style  of  preaching.  Pierce  and  Milburn  and 
Maffit  achieved  distinction  on  this  line  and  others 
we  must  say  copied  a  bad  example. 

Bishop  Pierce,  in  speaking  to  ine  on  this  subject, 
stigmatized  this  sort  of  preaching  as  a  species  of 
"hifalutinism"  of  which,  in  his  maturer  yearsr 
he  was  heartily  ashamed,  and  which  he  had  de- 
liberately and  prayerfully  abandoned,  not  with- 
out some  sacrifice  of  reputation  with  the  masses. 

But  what  he  lost  in  one  direction  he  had  more 
than  gained  in  greater  simplicity  and  increased 
spiritual  power. 

I  was  pleased  to  note  a  like  improvement  in 
Brother  Jewett,  as  he  attained  a  riper  experience 
and  a  fuller  consecration. 

The  last  sermon  I  heard  him  preach  at  Monte- 
zuma, was  a  masterly  argument  on  the  "Tempta- 
tion of  Christ." 

It  exhibited  close  research  and  a  breadth  of 
thought  which  I  had  seldom  beard  equaled  by  our 
ablest  conference  preachers. 

I  met  him  no  more,  but  Rev.  T.  T.  Christian  tells 
me  that  his  last  preaching  was  the  best.  That  as 
he  neared  the  crossing  he  seemed  like  Barnabas , 
full  of  faith  and  the  Holy  Ghost. 

I  am  quite  sure  that  I  never  knew  a  purer  and 
more  unselfish  spirit.  Nor  have  I  known  but  few 
pastors  who  were  more  endeared  to  the  congrega- 
tions that  they  served. 


86  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 


JOHN  W.  TALLEY. 

A  somewhat  notable  man  in  his  generation  was 
John  W.  Talley.  Brother  T.  was  not  distinguished 
for  learning  or  brilliancy,  but  for  working  quali- 
ties of  a  high  order,  and  a  piety  that  challenged 
the  confidence  of  both  clergy  and  laity. 

When  I  had  not  reached  my  legal  majority,  I 
attended  a  temperance  jubilee  at  LaGrange,  where 
Brother  Talley  wTas  stationed,  already  well-ad- 
vanced in  years.  He  made  the  address  of  wel- 
come in  behalf  of  the  community,  and  I  was  as- 
signed to  the  duty  of  making  one  of  the  responses. 
This  was  the  beginning  of  our  acquaintance  and  of 
a  life-long  friendship. 

Brother  T.  was  a  man  of  what  was  then  con- 
sidered a  liberal  education.  His  preaching  was 
such  as  to  make  him  acceptable  on  our  average 
stations.  This,  combined  with  his  affability  and 
otherwise  pleasant  address  and  his  excellent  pas- 
toral qualifications,  made  him  quite  a  favorite 
with  all  denominations. 

Many  years  ago,  perhaps  after  his  superan- 
nuation, he  removed  to  Texas  to  be  with  his  oldest 
daughter,  an  1  there  his  faithful  life  was  crowned 
with  a  triumphant  death.  In  his  far-off  Western 
home  he  still  cherished  roseate    memories    of    his 


OF   MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  87 

ministry  in  old  Georgia.  At  intervals  he  sent  love 
messages  to  his  brethren  of  the  conference, 
amongst  whom  he  had  served  with  signal  fidelity. 


JOHN  W.  KNIGHT. 

Amongst  the  twelve  apostles  there  was  a  strik- 
ing diversity  of  character.  How  sharply  con- 
trasted were  Matthew  the  staid,  mater-of-f act  tax- 
gatherer  and  the  impetuous  Simon  Peter,  the 
Galilean  fisherman,  who  was  ready  by  turns  and  in 
quick  succession  too,  to  fight  or  flee. 

Neither  are  all  Methodist  preachers  fashioned 
after  any  given  pattern.  Allen  Turner  and  W.  J. 
Parks  had  few  traits  in  common.  John  P.  Dun- 
can and  Russell  Reneau  were  thoroughly  antipodal. 
This  brings  us  to  remark  that  John  W.  Knight 
had  well  marked  individuality,  and  was  quite  un- 
like any  member  of  the  Old  Georgia  Conference. 
Who  amongst  us,  at  an  annual  session,  ever  saw 
him  inside  the  bar  of  the  conference?  Who  ever 
heard  him  speak  on  any  issue,  great  or  small, 
that  might  be  the  subject  matter  of  debate?  Usually 
he  sat  apart,  brooding  over  some  problem  in  the- 
ology, or  some  question  in  metaphysics,  seemingly 
oblivious  of  the  bishop's  gavel  and  of  the  secre- 


88  BIOGRAPHIC     ETCHINGS 

tary's  announcements.  I  was  both  startled  and 
stumped  on  two  or  three  occasions,  when,  on 
leaving  the  conference  room,  he  called  to  me  and 
asked  me  some  question  about  a  Hebrew  construc- 
tion on  a  Greek  text.  I  had  been,  when  a  boy, 
pretty  thoroughly  drilled  in  Greek,  but  my  knowl- 
edge of  Hebrew,  after  only  a  few  months'  study 
under  a  Baptist  divine,  was  exceedingly  limited. 
I  told  Brother  Knight  that  I  knew  less  about  He- 
brew than  he  did,  a  statement  that  he  found  it 
difficult  to  credit. 

I  mention  this  as  illustrative  of  his  peculiarities. 

Did  3'ou  ever  hear  him  preach  when  the  Holy 
Ghost  overshadowed  him?  What  unction,  what 
sweep  of  the  imagination — and  then  his  hortatory 
appeals,  how  they  reminded  one  of  the  wind  of 
Ezekiel  as  it  swept  over  the  valley  of  Dry  Bones. 
Bishop  Pierce  was  not  a  bad  judge  of  preaching, 
and  it  is  well  known  that  he  was  enthusiastic  in 
his  praise  of  John  W.  Knight.  Better  than  his 
preaching,  however,  were  his  prayers  for  penitents. 
Many  years  ago,  at  one  of  the  Griffin  Conferences, 
he  was  asked  after  the  sermon,  to  make  the  prayer 
for  a  number  who  had  gathered  at  the  altar.  At 
first  there  was  some  hesitancy,  a  not  infrequent 
thing,  but  as  he  warmed  to  the  occasion  he  seemed 
almost  to  shake  the  heavens  with  his  supplications 
for  divine  mercy.  Before  he  concluded  there  was 
weeping  blended  with  hallehijahs,  from  the  pulpit 
to  the  door;  then  came    the    shout    of   new-born 


OF   MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  89 

souls,  and  we  had  more  than  a  glimpse  of  Pente- 
cost. 

The  last  time  I  saw  the  dear  old  brother  was  at 
the  State  Lunatic  Asylum.  I  had  gone  through 
some  of  the  wards  with  one  of  the  assistant 
physicians,  and  as  I  walked  down  the  long  corri- 
dor I  inquired  about  Bro.  Knight,  and  expressed  a 
desire  to  see  him.  Just  then  the  physician  re- 
marked, "  Yonder  he  is,  now" — but  before  I  caught 
more  than  a  glance  at  him  he  turned  into  his  room 
and  shut  the  door. 

The  physician  informed  me  that  for  some  days  he 
had  been  unusually  excited,  and  when  in  such 
moods  he  refused  to  see  all  visitors,  especially  his 
old  friends.  I  passed  the  door,  which  was  slightly 
ajar,  and  heard  his  delirious  mutterings.  How 
deeply  pathetic. 

Not  long  after  this  occurence  he  died,  a  mental 
and  physical  wreck. 


J.  BLAKELY  SMITH. 

• 

J.  Blakely  Smith  was  a  thrifty  merchant  when 
divinely  called  to  the  arduous  work  of  an  itinerant 
preacher.  He  promptly  responded  to  that  call, 
and  to  the  end  of  life  was  a  useful  and  laborious 


90  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

member  of  the  conference.  For  a  long  term  of 
years  he  served  with  great  efficiency  as  the  con- 
ference secretary.  Few  men  have  been  more 
universally  beloved  by  his  brethren,  nor  was 
there  one  of  their  number  who  was  more  thor- 
oughly consecrated  in  heart  and  life.  On  circuits 
and  districts  his  work  was  honored  of  men  and 
signally  blessed  of  God.  As  a  preacher,  he  made 
no  claim  to  learning  or  brillianc}-,  but  in  point  of 
effectiveness  he  had  few  superiors  in  his  immediate 
generation. 

He  was  often  styled  a  weeping  prophet  because 
his  sermons  were  characterized  by  great  tender- 
ness, and  quite  often  were  baptized  with  his  tears. 
We  would  not  intimate  that  they  were  lacking  in 
vigorous  thought,  but  the  emotional  was  largely 
predominant  in  his  ministry.  I  found  him  on  more 
•than  one  occasion  a  valuable  helper  in  a  revival 
meeting,  and  his  services  in  this  capacity  were 
everywhere  in  demand.  When  the  conference  was 
divided  in  1867,  he  was  greatly  grieved.  As  a 
token  of  brotherly  appreciation  the  members  of 
the  old  conference  presented  him  with  an  elegant 
gold  watch  as  a  souvenir  of  the  days  when  they 
were  an  unbroken  band. 

He  was  deeply  touched  by'  their  kindness  and  it 
contributed  somewhat  to  soothe  his  wounded 
sensibilities. 

But  he  was  too  good  a  man  to  be  a  "sorehead," 
or  to  repine  long  about  a  result  that  many  of   us 


OF    MINISTERS    AND   LAYMEN.  91 

had  long  known  to  be  alike  desirable    and    inevit- 
able. 

I  saw  but  little  of  him  after  the  division  of  the 
conference,  but  he  continued  to  be  a  good  man 
and  true  until  the  end  of  his  pilgrimage. 


CALEB  AY.  KEY. 

Fortv  years  ago,  Caleb  W.  Key  was  one  of  the 
most  enterprising  pastors  and  solid  preachers  in 
the  Georgia  Conference. 

He  wras  not  a  genius,  but,  better  than  this,  he 
had  an  unusual  working  capacity  which  served 
him  in  good  stead  on  several  of  our  leading  sta- 
tions and  districts. 

He  was  a  man  of  fine  address — of  great  per- 
sonal neatness,  and  wielded  a  large  influence  in 
the  business  affairs  of  the  annual  conference  ses- 
sions. 

He  had  enjoyed  better  educational  advantages 
than  a  majority  of  the  old  panel  of  our  preachers, 
and  he  was  careful  to  improve  those  advantages 
by  reading  and  observation. 

I  heard  him  preach  as  far  back  as  the  early 
forties,  when  he  was  pastor  at  LaGrange,  then 
and  now  one  of  strongest  stations.     Even  thus 


92  BIOGRAPHIC     ETCHINGS 

early  in  his  ministry,  he  was  highly  esteemed  in  the 
pulpit  and  the  social  circle.  As  the  years  went  by 
he  grew  in  strength  and  popularity  until  he  was 
disabled  by  "age  and  feebleness  extreme." 

We  have  already  intimated  that  Brother  Key  was 
not  noted  for  brilliancy,  but  there  were  occasions 
when  in  revivals  and  camp-meetings  he  had  very 
considerable  preaching  power. 

I  remember  an  instance  of  the  sort  in  connection 
with  a  visit  I  made  to  the  old  Putnam  camp-meet- 
ing in  1860.  A  prominent  young  merchant,  a  mem- 
ber of  his  charge  at  Eatonton,  had  suddenly  died 
on  the  camp-ground.  The  friends  of  the  deceased, 
who  was  greatly  beloved  throughout  the  country, 
desired  the  funeral  service  to  be  held  at  the  camp- 
ground. Brother  Key  officiated.  He  had  a  good 
theme  and  handled  it  with  marked  ability.  His 
closing  appeal  to  the  young  men  of  the  congrega- 
tion was  wonderful,  and  was  thought  to  have 
resulted  in  wakenings  and  conversions.  Brother 
Key  was  greatly  blessed  in  his  domestic  relations, 
and  had  a  good  show  of  financial  prosperity,  for 
a  man  who  gave  himself  wholly  to  the  work  of 
the  ministry.  Our  present  Bishop  Key,  whom  all 
Georgia  delights  to  honor,  did  much  by  his  filial 
devotion  to  brighten  the  last  days  of  his  venerable 
father. 


OF   MINISTERS   AND    LAYMEN.  93 


JAMES  O.  A.  CLARK,  D.  D.,  L.L.  D. 

This  great  and  good  man  passed  away  at  9:30 
a.  m.,  on  Tuesday,  September  4th,  1894. 

He  was  stricken  with  paralysis  about  three 
weeks  before  his  death,  after  which  time  his 
family  and  friends  had  no  hope  of  his  recovery. 
He  had  not  been  strong,  physically,  for  some 
years,  but  always  strong  mentally.  His  pen 
was  not  allowed  to  rest.  His  great  mind 
was  as  busy  and  his  thoughts  were  as  clear  and 
bright  as  when  in  the  full  vigor  of  manhood. 
Two  books,  in  addition  to  those  already  published, 
were  almost  ready  for  the  press  when  the  lamp 
went  out.  His  energy  was  boundless.  As  presid- 
ing elder  of  the  Macon  district  he  continued  his 
work  until  the  peremptory  command  from  his 
physician  required  him  to  desist.  He  loved  to 
work,  and  especially  did  he  glory  in  his  vocation 
as  a  preacher.  In  the  pulpit  he  was  the  peer  of  any 
among  us.  He  was,  indeed,  a  great  preacher!  As 
a  scholar  he  was  easily  in  the  front  rank  with 
the  highest.  No  one  who  knew  Dr.  Clark,  who 
had  read  his  books,  or  heard  his  sermons,  will  sus- 
pect extravagance  in  anything  that  has  been  said. 

He  was  at  the  time  of  his  death  about  sixty- 
seven  years  of  age.  He  was  admitted  with  the 
writer  of  these  lines,  into  the  Georgia  conference, 


94  BIOGRAPHIC     ETCHINGS 

held  in  Atlanta,  Georgia,  December,  1854,  Bishop 
Capers  presiding.  Next  December,  1894,  will  be 
forty  years  since  this  dear  brother,  in  company 
with  Bishop  0.  P.  Fitzgerald,  Wm.  J.  Scott,  D.  D., 
Jno.  W.  Burke,  G.  G.  N.  MacDonell,  James  T.Ains- 
worth,  Alvin  J.  Dean,  W.  W.  Tidwell,  John  W. 
Turner,  Thos.  T.  Christian  (and  others  whose 
names  cannot  be  recalled  at  this  writing)  were  re- 
ceived into  the  Georgia  conference.  Dr.  Clark  is 
the  third  member  of  that  remarkable  class  who 
has  finished  his  work. 

Dean  and  Turner  have  been  dead  several  years. 

Dr.  Clark  has  occupied  every  position  of  honor 
in  the  church  except  the  bishopric.  In  every  place 
he  showed  superiority  as  a  man  and  a  christian 
minister.  He  was  both  great  and  good.  He  was 
fixed  and  settled  in  his  religious  views,  and  knew, 
experimentally,  thelove of  Christ.  The  Methodist 
church  has  lost  one  of  her  ablest  and  noblest  de- 
fenders. 

The  prayers  of  the  church  will  go  up  to  God  in 
behalf  of  his  precious  wife  and  children  in  this 
hour  of  deep  bereavement. 

The  funeral  service  took  place  at  eleven  o'clock 
a.  m.,  at  the  First  Presbyterian  church.  This  was 
on  account  of  the  fact  that  Mulberry  Street  Metho- 
dist church  was  undergoing  repairs.  A  large  con- 
gregation was  present.  Dr.  Monk,  pastor  of  Mul- 
berry, preached  a  most  touching  and  appropriate 


OF   MINISTERS   AND    LAYMEN.  95 

sermon.  Dr.  J.  W.Hintonand  Rev.  Geo.  G.  N.Mac- 
Donell  delivered  short  but  beautiful  eulogies  of  the 
deceased.  At  the  close  the  body  was  carried  to 
Rose  Hill  cemetery  and  laid  away  until  the  rtsur- 
rection  morn. 


JAMEvS  0.  ANDREW, 

OUR   MARTYR    BISHOP. 

This  eminent  divine  was  a  Georgian  by  birth 
and  culture. 

Although  not  like  the  Mercenas  of  Roman  his- 
tory of  royal  lineage,  yet,  he  was  what  was  better 
still  of  pious  parentage,  being  a  descendant  of  the 
Dorchester  colonists,  who  after  divers  migrations, 
settled  at  Midway,  Georgia. 

Like  Obadiah  and  Samuel  of  sacred  memory,  he 
feared  the  Lord  from  his  youth.  While  his  educa. 
tional  opportunities  were  but  fairly  good  yet  he 
early  exhibited  an  aptitude  for  learning  which  fitted 
him  for  the  ministry  before  he  had  attained  his 
majority.  In  a  few  years  his  services  were  in  de- 
mand in  leading  stations  of  Georgia  and  South 
Carolina,  including  Augusta,  Charleston  and 
Savannah.  At  all  these  ooints  he  was  greatly  be- 
loved for  his  piety  and  not  less    admired    for    his 


96  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

pulpit  ability.  It  was,  however,  somewhat  of  a 
surprise  when,  in  1832,  he  was  elected  to  the 
Episcopacy  over  the  heads  of  a  number  who  were 
his  seniors  in  age  and  his  superiors  in  ministerial 
rank.  On  all  sides,  however,  he  was  regarded  as 
prudent  in  life,  sound  in  doctrine  and  thoroughly 
loyal  to  the  polity  of  Wesley  an  Methodism.  His 
reputation  in  these  respects  was  in  nowise  sec- 
tional, but  extended  from  Maine  to  Texas.  And 
yet  so  rapid  was  the  spread  of  anti-slave^ism  that 
in  a  dozen  3rears  he  was  immolated  on  the  altar  of 
that  fierce  fanaticism. 

At  the  time  of  his  accession  to  the  Episcopacy  he 
stood  on  the  border  line  of  the  heroic  age  of 
American  Methodism.  Its  romance  had  wellnigh 
ceased  with  Asbury  and  McKendree.  But  for- 
tunately for  the  enlargement  of  its  domain  there 
were  men  like  Soule,  Roberts  and  Hedding  who 
stood  ready  in  fellow^ship  with  their  junior  col- 
league to  push  its  victories  to  the  Mississippi 
and  to  the  vast  regions  beyond.  We  had  met  him 
at  Annual  Conferences  and  admired  him  greatly, 
both  as  a  presiding  officer  and  preacher.  But  in 
1862,  while  occupying  the  Wesley  Chapel  parson- 
age in  Atlanta,  he  was  our  honored  guest  for 
nealv  a  week.  "No  man,"  says  the  French  prov. 
erb,  "is  a  hero  to  his  valet  de  chambre"  The 
Bishop  at  least  was  an  exception.  We  saw  him  en. 
dishabille.  Despite  the  disparity  of  age,  he  un- 
bosomed himself  to  us    as    a    brother.    Now  and 


OF   MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  97 

then,  without  undue  self-assertion,  he  volunteered 
words  of  fatherly  counsel.  Yet,  in  these  graver 
and  more  thoughtful  moods,  there  was  no  Sir 
Oracle  dogmatism.  For  our  entertainment  he 
occasionally  fought  over  the  battles  of  his  minis- 
terial life,  and  modestly  showed  us  how  fields  were 
won.  As  Desdemona  was  charmed  by  Othello's 
recital  of  his  travels,  history,  and ' '  the  battle  sieges, 
fortunes  he  had  passed,"  so  we  were  deeply  fasci- 
nated by  his  unpretentious  narrative  of  the  ex- 
periences and  adventures  of  a  long  and  eventful 
itinerant  career. 

At  this  time  he  gave  us  at  our  own  urgent  re- 
quest a  minute  account  of  his  virtual  deposition 
by  the  General  Conference  of  1844. 

He  interspersed  the  general  history  with  vivid 
sketches  of  the  leaders  of  both  sections,  wTith  oc- 
casional side  glimpses  that  revealed  the  true  in- 
wardness of  the  grand  conflict.  There  was,  how- 
ever, neither  in  word  nor  manner,  the  slightest  ex- 
hibition of  unseemly  temper.  But  it  was  evident 
that  the  wounds  inflicted  by  some  envious  Casca, 
or  some  beloved  Brutus,  were  not  yet  fully  cica- 
trized. 

Henceforth  we  deeply  venerated  the  man  and 
were  evermore  jealous  of  his  fame. 

The  General  Conference  of  1844  was  the  central 
event  in  the  history  of  Bishop  Andrew.  It  was  to 
him  what  the  synod  of  Dort  was  to  Arminius, 
what  the  Council  of  Constance  was  to  John  Huss 


98  BIOGRAPHIC   ETCHINGS 

and  Jerome  of  Prague.  Never  did  the  Bishop  ex- 
hibit such  sublime  moral  courage  as  when,  after  a 
momentary  weakness,  he  confronted  with  the 
heroism  of  a  martyr  the  ruthless  majority  arrayed 
against  him,  and  intent  on  overwhelming  him  by 
sheer  dint  of  numbers.  This  might  well  serve  as  a 
companion  piece  to  that  of  Luther  as  he  stood 
face  to  face  with  Charles  V.  in  the  Diet  of  Worms. 

In  that  august  assemblage  of  1844  there  were 
such  master  spirits  as  Winans,  of  Mississippi,  and 
Smith,  of  Virginia,  whose  forceful  arguments 
and  mighty  appeals  smote  upon  the  ear  of  a  con- 
tinent like  the  ponderous  blows  of  a  trip-hammer. 
There,  too,  was  the  younger  Pierce,  his  face  aglow 
with  the  light  of  genius,  if  not  inspiration,  as  he 
exclaimed:  " Let  New  England  go."  It  was  but 
little  short  of  the  thrilling  eloquence  with  which 
Cicero  scourged  the  guilty  Pro-consul  of  Sicily,  or 
drove  Cataline  and  his  fellowT-conspirators  from 
the  Senate  Chamber.  Indeed,  New  England  had 
long  troubled  our  Methodist  Israel,  as  she  had  been 
from  the  beginning  a  rankling  thorn  in  the  national 
body  politic. 

There,  too,  was  Capers,  the  founder  of  negro 
missions,  and  glorious  McFerrin  and  Henry  Bidle- 
man  Bascom,  and  in  the  back  ground  a  noble  con- 
stituency stretching  from  Maryland  to  Texas. 

That  picture  has  an  intrinsic  value  that  can 
hardly  be  estimated.  The  time  may  come  when 
Macaulav's  New  Zealand  artist  shall    sit    on    the 


OF    MINISTERS   AND    LAYMEN.  99 

broken  arches  of  London  Bridge  and  sketch  the 
ruins  of  St.  Paul's,  and  when  New  York,  like 
mighty  Babylon,  shall  be  "a  habitation  for  dragons 
and  a  court  for  owls;"  for  the  ruins  of  empiresare 
amongst  the  common-places  of  history,  and  the 
seats  of  commerce  and  wealth  are  unstable  and 
shifting  as  desert  sands.  All  this  may  transpire 
ere  that  scene  shall  fade  from  the  canvas  of  history. 
Indeed,  all  material  grandeur  is  changeful  as  the 
imagery  of  cloud-land,  but  truth  outlasts  the 
pyramids,  for  the  eternal  years  of  God  are  her  in- 
heritance. 

DeQuinc}r,  a  time-serving  essayist,  sneered  at  the 
action  of  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland  in  1843. 
A  procession  of  several  hundred  clergymen,  headed 
by  Thomas  Chalmers,  going  forth  from  St.  An- 
drew's Church,  Edinburgh,  for  the  sake  of  Christ 
and  the  purity  of  his  church,  was  hardly  a  spec- 
tacle for  a  clownish  jest  or  a  fiendish  grimace. 
By  this  act  they  abandoned  all  hope  of  political 
emolument  or  ecclesiastical  preferment.  Very 
many  of  them  were  gray-haired  veterans  who 
thereby  surrendered  the  churches  they  had  founded 
and  the  comfortable  manses  they  had  builded.  They 
went  forth  into  a  moral  wilderness  to  lay  anew 
the  foundations  of  a  church  unpolluted  with  the 
stain  of  Erastinianism,  and  unfettered  by  the 
chains  of  lay  patronage.  Were  they  right?  Let 
the  records  of  its  marvelous  growth  during  the 
forty  intervening  years  answer  the  inquiry. 


100  BIOGRAPHIC     ETCHINGS 

This  Edinburgh  picture  in  1843  was  duplicated 
in  New  York  in  1844.  New  England  must  be  pro- 
pitiated even  though  Andrew's  Episcopal  head 
should  fall.  The  same  spirit  that  pilloried  and 
scourged  the  Quakers,  and  drove  Roger  Williams  to 
Rhode  Island  and  Providence  plantations,  that  mas- 
sacred the  Pequods  and  Narragansets,  and  sold  the 
miserable  remnant  into  slavery  in  Barbadoes ;  the 
same  Massachusetts  and  Rhode  Island,  who  for 
mercenary  purposes,  helped  to  extend  the  African 
slave-trade  twenty  years  over  the  heads  of  Dela- 
ware and  South  Carolina.  These  men,  whose 
sires  had  waxed  fat  on  the  traffic  in  human  flesh, 
were  now  in  hot  pursuit  of  Bishop  Andrew  for  the 
sin  of  slave-holding,  not  by  purchase,  but  by  in- 
heritance. To  this  deep-mouthed  baying  of  the  Bos- 
ton kennel  there  was  added  the  shrill  cry  of  Tray, 
Blanche  and  Sweetheart  from  the  other  hostile 
conferences.  Upon  this  accusation,  without  the 
semblance  of  a  trial,  but  by  a  simple  resolution  of 
the  body,  he  was  suspended  indefinitely  from  his 
Episcopal  functions.  In  vain  did  the  Southern 
minority  protest  against  this  monstrous  iniquity- 
The  Moloch  of  anti-slavery  fanaticism  must  be 
appeased  at  the  expense  of  justice  and  every  other 
cardinal  virtue  of  heathen  and  christian  morality. 
It  was  done  by  the  tyrrany  of  a  mob,  or  else  the 
ruling  of  a  star-chamber  tribunal.  The  majority 
may  accept  either  horn  of  the  dilemma.  After  no 
little  diplomatic    maneuvering,  a    formal    separa- 


OF   MINISTERS   AND    LAYMEN.  101 

tion  was  agreed  upon,  subject  to  the  ratification 
of  the  southern  conferences.  Even  this  measure 
of  pacification  was  repudiated  by  the  succeeding 
northern  general  conference.  The  southern 
church  finally  secured  her  chartered  rights,  at  the 
end  of  a  tedious  and  expensive  litigation.  But 
even  a  supreme  court  decision  could  not  curb  the 
rapacity  of  the  northern  church.  In  solemn  coun- 
cil, our  church,  from  the  bishops  downward,  were 
adjudged  guilty  of  treason  for  defending  against 
invasion  their  altars  and  their  fires. 

Some  of  the  northern  bishops  invoked  the  aid  of 
military  satraps  to  eject  us  from  our  churches 
and  parsonages.  In  numerous  localities  we  were 
stigmatized  from  our  own  pulpits  as  graceless 
reprobates  and  Christless  rebels.  The  sober  second 
thought  of  the  nation  rebuked  this  proscriptive 
spirit. 

Failing  in  this  scheme  of  military  seizure,  they 
sought  by  means  of  missionary  appropriations  and 
intimidation  to  disintegrate  and  absorb.  To  that 
policy  they  owe  their  limited  success  in  a  few  of 
the  backwoods  settlements  of  the  South.  An- 
other change  has  come  over  "the  spirit  of  their 
dream."  Their  only  hope  now  is  to  compass  their 
object  by  organic  union.  This  project,  plausible 
as  it  may  appear  to  some,  is  a  predestined  failure. 
It  at  least,  can  only  be  consummated  by  the  utter 
disruption  of  the  southern  church.  For  right  confi- 
dent are  we  that  an  overwhelming  majority  of  the 


102  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

clergy  and  laity  of  that  church  will  never  submit 
their  necks  to  the  yoke  of  a  northern  majority. 

But  to  return  to  Bishop  Andrew.  This  grand 
man  "did  not  lag  superfluous  on  the  stage,"  but 
labored  with  indomitable  will  to  the  utmost  of  his 
failing  strength.  His  life-wrork  completed  and 
rounded  into  beautiful  symmetry,  he  was  ready 
for  his  translation.  As  Bacon  says,  "the  sweetest 
canticle  is  nunc  dimittis  to  one  who  has  obtained 
worthy  ends  and  expectations."  Pelopidas  was 
reckoned  by  Plutarch  the  best  of  the  Greeks.  So 
likewise  did  Mark  Antony  characterize  the  mighty 
Julius  who  fell  beneath  the  daggers  of  conspiracy 
in  the  senate  house  as  "the  noblest  Roman  of 
them  all." 

Not  less  may  it  be  said  that  in  no  dubious  sense 
James  0.  Andrew  was  the  last  bishop  of  the  As- 
buryan  t}'pe.  He,  too,  was  the  victim  of  con- 
spirators like  those  who  slew  Caesar  at  the  base 
of  Pompey's  statue. 

Now  that  he  sleeps  amidst  the  classic  shades  of 
his  beloved  Oxford  he  deserves  a  monument,  to  be 
erected,  not  by  any  single  conference,  but  by  the 
joint  contributions  of  southern  Methodism  from 
California  to  Florida.  Nor  could  it  bear  a  wor- 
thier inscription  than  this  simple  but  significant 
phrase: 

HERE    LIES 
JAMES   O.    ANDREW, 
OUR 
BLESSED   MARTYR   BISHOP. 


• 


OF    MINISTERS    AND   LAYMEN.  103 


DANIEL  D.  COX. 

It  was  largely  through  the  pious  persuasion  of 
Daniel  D.  Cox  that  I  was  influenced,  in  1853,  to 
abandon  political  journalism  and  cast  my  lot  with 
the  Methodist  church  and  ministry.  Bro.  C.  was 
neither  learned  nor  eloquent,  but  he  was  distin- 
guished for  grace  and  goodness,  and  wherever 
known  was  greatly  beloved  by  all  classes  and  de- 
nominations. At  the  time  referred  to  he  was  pas- 
tor of  the  First  church  in  Rome,  where  his  two 
years'  ministry  was  crowned  with  abundant  suc- 
cess. It  is  due,  in  no  small  degree,  to  his  earnest 
labors,  that  this  church  is  now  one  of  the  largest 
and  most  influential  in  the  North  Georgia  Con- 
ference. 

His  earliest  years  in  the  ministry  were  spent  in 
South  Carolina,  and  several  of  them  in  missionary 
work  on  the  large  rice  plantations  on  the  coast.  It 
wras  interesting  to  hear  his  account  of  these  colored 
missions.  While  such  abolitionists  as  William 
Loyd  Garrison  were  seeking  to  incite  the  slaves  to 
riot  and  bloodshed,  Brother  Cox  and  his  fellow- 
laborers  were  engaged  in  a  diligent  effort  to  Chris- 
tianize them.  About  1850  he  was  received  into 
the  Georgia  Conference,  and  for  thirty  odd  years 
was  actively  engaged  on  circuits,  districts  and  sta- 
tions.    When  I  last  met  him  he  was  residing  with 


104  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

Mrs.  Judge  Bull,  of  LaGrange,  the  mother  of  his 
last  accomplished  wife.  He  was  then  quite  feeble 
in  health,  but  rejoicing  in  the  God  of  his  salva- 
tion. He  did  not  long  survive  this  interview.  His 
death  chamber  was  said  to  be  quite  on  the  verge 
of  heaven,  and  some  of  his  unconverted  friends 
were  deeply  impressed  by  the  closing  scenes  of  his 
eminently  useful  life.  His  death  occurred  some- 
what unexpectedly  while  visiting  an  old  friend  at 
Gainesville,  in  which  community  he  was  univer- 
sally honored  and  beloved.  His  remains  were 
brought  to  LaGrange  and  deposited  by  the  side  of 
his  beloved  wife,  the  solemn  services  being  con- 
ducted by  Rev.  B.  H.  Sasnett  in  the  presence  of  a 
large  congregation. 


WM.  S.  TURNER. 

The  class  of  1854  was  one  of  the  largest  ever 
received  into  the  Georgia  Conference. 

I  trust  I  may  be  pardoned  for  saying  that  in 
some  respects  it  was  one  of  the  best. 

Several  of  them  earned  no  little  distinction  in 
the  ministry.  Amongst  this  number  we  reckon 
the  richly-endowed  Fitzgerald,  humorous  and 
sweet-spirited  Burke,  who,  as  a    man    of    affairs, 


OF   MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  105 

has  left  an  indelible  imprint  on  Georgia  Method- 
ism, the  scholarly  Clark,  whose  labors  with  his 
pen  have  been  abundant  and  valuable  to  his  own 
and  future  generations,  the  genial  and  accomplished 
McDonnell,  the  eloquent  Pledger,  clear-headed  and 
warm-hearted  Christian.  Besides,  there  were 
others  of  less  note,  but  not  lacking  in  usefulness. 
Of  this  class  was  William  S.  Turner,  who  had  a 
good  report  in  all  the  churches  he  was  called  to 
serve.  He  was  studious  in  his  habits  and  indus- 
trious in  the  pastorate,  and  his  preaching  was 
of  that  sort  that  met  with  general  acceptance. 

After  all  it  is  the  average  man  who  often  ac- 
complishes the  best  results. 

The  meteor  that  for  a  single  instant  "splen- 
dors the  sleep}'  realms  of  night"  is  not  compara- 
ble to  the  "maidenliest  star  that  twinkles  in  the 
firmament."  There  is  more  glow  but  less  steady 
shining,  and  quite  often  these  showy  pulpiteers 
move  in  an  eccentric  orbit  that  carries  them  far 
away  from  the  central  "sun  of  righteousness." 

That  gifted  man,  Melville,  for  years  the  marvel 
of  the  London  pulpits,  has  in  his  published  ser- 
mons a  suggestive  discourse  on  the  man  of  "two 
talents."  It  may  serve  to  reconcile  some  of  us 
to  the  fewness  of  our  gifts  when  it  is  borne  in 
mind  that  this  average  man  was  no  whit  behind 
his  fellow-servants  who  had  the  five  talents,  in  the 
percentage  of  his  gain  and  his  reward. 


106  BIOGRAPHIC     ETCHINGS 

I  have  attempted  no  detailed  account  of  Brother 
T's  pulpit  labors  because  I  have  but  little  personal 
knowledge  in  the  premises.  What  I  have  stated  is 
based  upon  information  gathered  from  outside 
sources,  and  is  of  necessity'  meagre  and  not  alto- 
gether satisfactory. 


WESLEY  P.  ARNOLD. 

Weslev  P.  Arnold  had  a  stentorian  voice, 
which  he  looked  upon  as  a  serious  misfortune.  It 
was  not  only  the  subject  matter  of  humorous 
criticism,  but  in  some  degree  marred  his  useful- 
ness. 

But  back  of  this  there  lay  a  fund  of  common 
sense  and  a  consecrated  life,  that  made  him  a 
general  favorite  in  town  and  country. 

He  was  a  man  of  humility  and  self-denial,  and 
was  one  of  the  few  pastors  of  recent  }rears  who 
traveled  his  circuit  on  foot.  This  may  have  been 
at  times  the  result  of  choice,  but  of  tener  than 
otherwise  was   the  result  of  stern  necessity. 

His  was  an  independent  spirit  that  shrunk  from 
receiving  favors  which,  Emerson  says,  al\va3rs 
places  the  receiver  at  a  disadvantage.  Fortunately, 
he    was  muscular  and  active,  and  a  tramp  of  five 


OF   MINISTERS   AND    LAYMEN.  107 

or  ten  miles  over  a  country  road  did  not  unfit 
him  for  the  pulpit.  I  had  a  very  limited  experience 
of  the  same  sort  on  two  or  three  occasions  many 
years  ago,  nor  was  I  damaged  by  it,  neither  men- 
tally nor  physicalhr.  Emerson,  to  whom  we  have 
just  referred,  says  that  since  horses  and  vehicles 
have  become  so  abundant,  men  have  lost,  in  a 
measure,  the  use  of  their  legs. 

Recurring  to  Brother  Arnold's  ministry,  we 
would  characterize  it  as  intensely  fervid  and 
thoroughly  practical.  We  have  heard  him  when 
he  waxed  eloquent  and  moved  his  audience  to 
shouts  and  tears. 

He  helped  me  greatly  during  a  revival  meeting, 
in  the  sixties,  by  his  earnestness  and  amiableness. 
As  was  said  of  Barnabas,  so  it  might  be  said  of 
Wesley  Arnold,  "He  was  a  good  man,  full  of  faith 
and  the  Holv  Ghost." 


LUTHER  M.  SMITH. 

Luther  M.  Smith  was  more  widely  known  as  an 
educator  than  as  a  preacher.  Perhaps  more  than 
two-thirds  of  his  life  was  spent  as  president  or 
professor  in  some  prominent  institution  of  learn- 
ing.    His  work  in    Emory  College  was    deserving 


108  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

of  high  praise,  nor  less  so  his  later  labors  as  chan- 
cellor of  the  Southern  University  at  Greensboro, 
Alabama.  Few  men  had  a  better  faculty  for  the 
administration  of  college  discipline.  He  blended 
mildness  and  firmness  in  due  proportion,  and 
thus  secured  both  the  respect  and  love  of  his 
pupils.  Hundreds  of  them  cherish  the  memory  of 
his  manifold  virtues. 

His  gifts  on  the  lecture  platform  and  in  the  pul- 
pit were  of  a  high  order. 

On  some  special  occasions  I  have  heard  him 
preach  with  very  great  ability. 

At  times  he  was  thrillingly  eloquent,  and  seldom 
have  I  known  him  to  be  lacking  in  unction  and 
tenderness. 

If  his  whole  life  had  been  consecrated  to  the 
ministry,  he  would  have  been  as  useful  as  his 
ablest  contemporaries. 

His  physical  infirmities  were,  however,  of  a  sort 
and  a  degree  that  incapacitated  him  for  continu- 
ous labor  in  the  itinerant  work.  These  infirmities 
shadowed  his  latter  years  and  made  him  of  a  sor- 
rowful spirit.  But  through  it  all  he  had  sustain- 
ing grace,  and  when  the  end  came  he  had  an 
"abundant  entrance"  into  the  everlasting  kingdom. 

Not  many  have  left  to  the  generations  that  fol- 
low, a  better  reputation  for  saintliness  than  my 
dear  old  friend,  Dr.  Luther  M.  Smith. 


OF    MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  109 


ARMINIUS  WRIGHT. 

Arminius  Wright  had  but  recently  returned  to 
the  conference  when  I  first  met  him  as  the  sta- 
tioned preacher  at  Griffin,  in  1858. 

I  visited  that  thriving  }'oung  city  in  response  to 
an  invitation  to  deliver  the  commencement  ser- 
mon of  the  Griffin  Female  College,  under  the  joint 
control  of  Revs.   W.  Rogers  and  A.  B.  Niles. 

Brother  Wright  was  then  in  the  prime  of  life, 
and  had  partially  recovered  from  a  severe  sickness 
which  had  previously  induced  his  withdrawal 
from  the  itinerant  ministry.  He  had  the  advan- 
tage of  a  liberal  education,  and  his  scholarship 
was  quite  respectable. 

As  a  preacher  he  was  in  great  favor  with  his 
congregation  at  Griffin,  and  during  the  next  decade 
occupied  several  of  our  leading  pulpits.  He  had 
indeed  the  gift  of  oratory  in  no  small  degree,  and 
but  for  a  dyspeptic  ailment  which  clung  to  him 
for  years,  and  which  finally  shortened  his  life,  he 
would  have  risen  to  great  distinction. 

He  left  a  most  interesting  family,  and  amongst 
them  a  son  who  inherited  some  of  his  father's 
best  intellectual  endowments. 


110  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 


FRANCIS  A.  KIMBALL. 

Francis  A.  Kimball  was  a  transfer  from  the 
Tennessee  to  the  North  Georgia  Conference  during 
the  war  period.  He  had,  as  I  remember  it,  been 
a  chaplain  in  the  western  army,  and  had  done 
valiant  and  faithful  service  in  that  capacity. 

Just  after  the  war  he  was  appointed  to  Wesley 
Chapel,  Atlanta,  where  during  his  pastoral  term, 
he  conducted  a  gracious  revival.  He  filled  other 
important  conference  positions  with  acceptability. 
He,  like  Bros.  Pierce  and  Wright,  had  a  hard 
struggle  with  a  refractory  liver,  complicated,  in 
his  case,  with  a  grave  bronchial  trouble.  But 
Brother  K.  had  a  large  share  of  energy,  and  never 
succumbed  to  disease  until  his  vital  forces  were 
utterly  exhausted.  His  preaching  was  good  to 
"the  use  of  edifying,''  and  quite  a  number  were 
brought  to  Christ  by  his  pathetic  pleading.  His 
devoted  wife,  who  still  survives,  is  one  of  our 
best  Sunday-school  workers  in  the  infant  depart- 
ment. 

Brother  Kimball  was  ardent  and  unswerving  in 
his  friendships,  and  is  pleasantly  remembered  by 
many  of  his  brethren  of  the  old  Georgia  Confer- 
ence. 


OF   MINISTERS   AND    LAYMEN.  Ill 


JAMES  L.  PIERCE. 

James  L.  Pierce  was  no  ordinary  man.  He  was 
one  of  the  early  graduates  of  Randolph-Macon 
College.  His  record  for  scholarship  and  general 
ability  during  his  colle   e  days  was  one  of  the  best. 

After  completing  his  collegiate  course  he  applied 
himself  to  the  study  of  law,  and  was  in  a  fair 
way  to  professional  eminence  when  he  decided  to 
enter  the  ministry  of  which  his  father  and  elder 
brother  were  such  distinguished  ornaments.  Not 
long  afterwards  he  was  called  to  the  presidency 
of  the  Madison  Female  College.  Under  his  man- 
agement that  institution  became  one  of  the  most 
prosperous  and  influential  in  the  conference.  I 
have  never  forgotten  his  baccalaureate  address  in 
1858.  It  was  a  literary  gem,  not  unworthy  of 
Bishop  Pierce  in  his  palmiest  days.  His  minis- 
terial life  was  checkered,  owing  largely  to  his 
delicate,  nervous  organism.  He  was  somewhat 
deficient  in  the  elocutionary  qualifications  which 
contributed  so  much  to  the  pupit  excellence  of  the 
other  members  of  the  family. 

As  a  theologian  the  "Old  Doctor"  always  rated 
him  above  any  of  his  sons,  not  excepting 
"George."  He  was  not  singular  in  this  estimate — 
many  of  our  best  conference  critics  were  like- 
minded.    I    am    quite    sure  that    his    expository 


112  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

preaching  sometimes  reminded  me  of  the  best  per- 
formances of  his  venerable  father. 

It  was  often  remarked  by  his  most  intimate 
friends  that  the  closing  years  of  his  life  were 
characterized  by  a  humility  and  gentleness  which 
clearly  evinced  that  his  bodily  and  mental  suffer- 
ings had  been  sanctified  to  his  spiritual  growth  and 
enlargement.  This  was  especially  noticeable  at 
Conyers,  one  of  the  last  appointments  that  he 
served . 

Two  or  three  years  before  his  death  he  removed 
to  Texas  where  he  spent  his  last  days  in  the  home 
of  his  son,  who  had  achieved  great  success  as  a 
minister  of  the  Gospel. 

Thus,  far  away  from  his  native  Georgia,  and 
quite  aloof  from  his  old  conference  associates,  Dr. 
Jas.  L.  Pierce  entered  into  rest. 


WM.  A.  SIMMONS. 

Wm.  A.  Simmons  was  neither  a  learned  divine 
nor  a  specially  attractive  preacher,  and  yet  he 
was  not  wanting  in  good  ministerial  gifts.  His 
piety  was  deep  and  fervent,  and  he  drew  hundreds 
to  Christ  and  the  church  because  his  zeal  and  conse- 
cration were  known  and  read  of  all  men  who  were 


OF    MINISTERS    AND   LAYMEN.  113 

brought  within  the  sphere  of  his  personal  acquaint- 
ance. He,  together  with  such  kindred  spirits  as 
his  brother  John  and  Wynn  and  Fitzgerald  and 
Bigham,  were  in  the  first  batch  of  missionaries 
that  went  forth  to  the  Pacific  coast  under  the 
leadership  of  Jesse  Boring.  They  were  one  and 
all  good  men  and  true,  and  they  planted  Southern 
Methodism  where  it  still  flourishes,  but  not  to  the 
extent  that  it  so  well  deserves. 

After  a  few  years,  however,  he  returned  to  his 
old  conference,  which  received  him  with  open 
arms. 

His  wife,  although  a  life-long  invalid,  was  a 
woman  of  rare  accomplishments,  and  to  her  he  ex- 
hibited a  devotion  that  was  really  sublime.  Brother 
Simmons  was  inevitably  hindered  in  his  pastoral 
work  by  the  protracted  illness  of  his  gifted  wife. 
Her  condition  demanded  change  of  climate,  and 
compelled  his  removal  to  South  Georgia  and 
Florida,  where  he  spent  a  few  of  the  later  years 
of  his  life. 

He  occasionally  supplied  other  charges  during 
this  period,  and  did  it  acceptably. 

As  his  years  increased  his  growth  in  grace  was 
striking, and  the  power  of  his  ministry  was  pro- 
portionately enlarged  and  intensified.  It  was  for 
this  veteran  warrior  a  glad  day,  when  in  his  sixty- 
seventh  year,  the  messenger,  with  a  love  missive 
from  the  Master,  called  him  to  the  fellowship  of 
the  just. 


114  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 


WM.  G.  ALLEN. 

These  etchings  would  be  incomplete  without  a 
passing  reference  to  that  useful  man,  William  G. 
Allen . 

It  so  chanced  in  the  order  of  divine  providence 
that  I  visited  him  on  his  deathbed  in  the  parson- 
age at  Forsyth.  He  was  extremely  ill,  but  his  trust 
in  God  was  fixed  and  he  became  unspeakably  happy 
as  we  communed  together  in  prayer  and  praise. 
He  had  a  most  interesting  household,  which  he 
ruled  with  the  law  of  kindness. 

Brother  Allen  died  when  yet  in  the  prime  of 
manhood,  but  he  lived  long  enough  to  do  excellent 
work  on  some  of  the  best  circuits  of  the  confer- 
ence. His  preaching  was  of  a  sort  that  edified 
alike  the  young  and  the  old,  the  cultured  and  the 
illiterate.  He  was,  as  more  than  one  of  the  old 
presiding  elders  used  to  say,  "a  safe  case." 

He  was  sound  in  faith  and  practice,  and  like  a 
Spanish-milled  dollar  was  everywhere  current  at 
a  hundred  cents. 

Some  day  his  old  companions  in  distress  will 
greet  him  on  the  golden  shore. 


OF   MINISTERS   AND    LAYMEN.  115 


JACOB  R.  DANFORTH. 

Jacob  R.  Danforth  was  a  man  of  rare  declama- 
tory power  in  the  pulpit.  Indeed,  he  was  one  of 
the  best  of  the  old  school  orators. 

His  father  and  mother  were  amongst  my 
parishioners  at  St.  John's  church,  Augusta.  They 
were  both  poor  and  pious  in  a  good  degree,  and 
in  their  last  days  were  largely  dependent  on  their 
son,  Oliver  H.  Danforth,  one  of  the  staunchest 
Methodist  laymen  of  my  former  acquaintances. 

"Brother  Jake"  as  he  was  familiarly  called,  was 
not  without  a  measure  of  crankiness — one  of  the 
characteristics  of  genius. 

I  remember  to  have  read  on  the  door  posts  of  the 
old  Mulberry  street  church  at  Macon,  this  inscrip- 
tion by  some  prof  ane  scribbler :  "On  the  second 
Sunday  in  May,  Brother  Danforth  prayed  thirty- 
five  minutes  by  the  watch."  I  am  not  sure  as  to 
the  date,  but  I  am  confident  that  the  length  of  the 
prayer  as  stated  is  exact.  Brother  Danforth 's  ser- 
mons, as  George  Smith  avers  in  his  History  of  Geor- 
gia Methodism,  were  remarkably  eloquent  and  for- 
cible, but  they  were  exhaustive  both  to  himself 
and  his  audience.  He  seemed  in  his  best  mood  to 
be  completely  oblivious  to  the  flight  of  time, 
whether  he  prayed  or  preached.  I  was  once  in  at- 
tendance at  a  camp-meeting  with    him    in    South- 


116  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

western  Georgia,  and  strongly  urged  the  preacher 
in  charge  to  put  him  up  at  the  11  o'clock  service 
on  Tuesda}-.  "Well,"  he  said  in  reply,  "Brother 
D.  is  a  wonderful  preacher,  and  if  I  knew  he 
would  not  exceed  two  hours  I  would  gladhr  do 
so."  I  left  the  encampment,  but  understood  after- 
wards that  he  preached  with  great  power  and 
with  unprecedented  brevity.  It  is  probable  some 
brother  had  kindly  admonished  him  of  his  infirmity. 

Brother  Danforth  had  quite  a  reputation  as  an 
educator ;  but  even  in  the  recitation  room  he  was 
noted  for  his  occasional  absentmindedness.  It 
was  often  said  of  him  that  he  very  narrowly 
missed  being  a  first-class  preacher  and  college  pro- 
fessor. 

As  respects  his  piety,  it  was  of  a  very  high  order. 
Such  at  least  was  the  universal  testimony. 


THOMAS  H.  JORDAN. 

Thos.  H.  Jordan  preceded  me  in  the  ministry  by 
several  years,  and  yet  I  was  probably  his  senior 
by  three  or  more  years. 

He  was  of  excellent  Methodist  lineage,  well  edu- 
cated, a  ready  speaker,  and  in  all  respects  a  man 
of  striking  personality.     From   the  beginning  of 


OF    MINISTERS    AND    LAYMEN.  117 

our  personal  acquaintance  we  were  warm  friends, 
and  so  continued  until  the  end  of  his  somewhat 
checkered  career. 

During  his  pastorate  in  Marietta  where  he  suc- 
ceeded me  as  preacher  in  charge  of  that  delightful 
station,  I  spent  two  weeks,  I  think,  in  the  summer 
of  1859. 

Aly  intercourse  with  him  was  exceedingly  pleas- 
ant, but  I  feared  from  the  course  of  reading  that 
he  was  pursuing,  and  from  some  incidental  re- 
marks that  he  let  fall  from  time  to  time,  that  he 
was  drifting  away  from  the  old  theology. 

On  the  second  Sabbath  of  my  visit  I  occupied 
his  pulpit  morning  and  evening.  In  the  evening 
I  spoke  from  the  text,  "Because  sentence  against 
an  evil  work  is  not  speedily  executed,"  etc.  At 
the  close  of  the  service  he  urged  me  to  spend  the 
night  at  the  parsonage.  I  consented  to  do  so,  and 
during  that  evening  he  unbosomed  himself  to  me 
in  regard  to  his  religious  experience  and  especially 
in  regard  to  some  speculative  difficulties  that  had 
worried  him  no  little  for  the  past  few  months. 
I  found  he  had  been  reading  such  works  as 
"Comte's  Positive  Philosophy, "  "Strauss'  Life  of 
Jesus,"  and  others  of  a  similar  trend.  He  said 
to  me:  "I  would  give  the  world  if  I  had  the  un- 
questioning faith  which  you  seem  to  have  from 
your  preaching  to-night."  I  replied:  "Tom,  I 
know  how  to  sympathize  with  you.  Will  you  be- 
lieve me  when  I  tell  you  that  from  sixteen  years  of 


118  BIOGRAPHIC     ETCHINGS 

age  to  my  twenty-first  year,  I  boxed  the  entire 
compass  of  infidelity?  I  read  all  the  books  of 
which  you  speak  and  a  score  besides.  Like  Asaph 
'my  feet  were  almost  gone,  my  steps  had  well- 
nigh  slipped.'  But,"  I  continued,  "by  a  singular 
providence  I  got  hold  of  a  copy  of  Watson's  Insti- 
tutes. Its  theology  was  a  revelation  because  I 
had  read  but  little  religious  literature  except  of  a 
Calvinistic  sort.  Watson  lifted  the  veil  from  my 
spiritual  understanding  and  m}'  speculative 
doubts,  which  had  brought  me  to  the  verge  of 
atheism,  all  disappeared,  and  from  that  time  for- 
ward I  was  in  theory  at  least  a  Christian."  I 
begged  him  to  quit  the  study  of  infidel  wrorks  and 
go  back  to  Watson  and  the  Bible.  He  seemed 
deeply  moved  and  we  spent  a  few  minutes  in 
prayer  before  retiring. 

My  next  special  interview  with  him  was  in  At- 
lanta, in  1862,  when  I  was  in  charge  of  Wesley 
chapel.  I  was  just  ready  to  begin  the  sermon  one 
Sunday  morning  when  a  handsome  cavalry  officer 
entered  the  church  and  was  shown  to  a  front 
seat.  I  instantly  recognized  him  as  my  old  con- 
ference friend,  and  went  down  and  invited  him  to 
preach  for  me,  which  he  declined,  and  also  my  in. 
vitation  to  occupy  a  seat  in  the  pulpit.  He  made, 
however,  an  earnest  closing  prayer.  After  the 
service  he  walked  with  me  to  the  parsonage  and 
remained  to  a  pleasant  half  hour's  conversation, 


OF   MINISTERS    AND    LAYMEN.  119 

but  could  not  stay  to  dinner  as  he  was  compelled 
to  leave  on  the  next  train. 

I  never  saw  him  after  this  conversation. 

Brother  J.  spent  his  closing  years  in  Southern 
Georgia,  principally  in  Savannah,  where  he 
had,  in  his  youth,  married  a  daughter  of  Dr. 
Saussy,  a  leading  physician  of  the  Forest  City. 

His  last  illness  was  somewhat  protracted,  but 
through  it  all  he  bore  his  sufferings  with  meek- 
ness and  resignation.  His  last  hours  were  peace- 
ful and  at  times  triumphant. 

He  now  rests  beneath  the  moss-draped  live-oaks 
of  Laurel  Hill,  awaiting  the  resurrection  of  the  j  ust. 


SAMUEL  J.  BELLAH. 

Samuel  J.  Bellah  had  no  genius  except  for  godli- 
ness. His  education  was  limited,  but  his  knowl- 
edge of  the  Scriptures  was  exact,  and  he  was  wrell 
versed  in  the  standards  of  Methodist  theology. 
When  I  first  made  his  acquaintance,  many  years 
ago,  he  was  feeble,  suffering  at  wTide  intervals 
with  hemorrhages  from  the  throat  or  lungs,  and 
yet  he  continued,  as  he  had  strength,  to  travel 
poor  circuits.  Talk  of  heroes  and  martyrs  !  Here 
was   one  little  known  outside  of  a  small  circle  of 


120  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

friends,  whose  zeal  and  faith  went  beyond  many 
whose  names  are  printed  in  the  calendar. 

During  my  residence  in  Marietta  and  my  occa- 
sional visits  to  the  Marietta  camp-ground,  I  saw 
this  lowly  servant  of  God.  He  usually  preached 
at  the  eight  o'clock  service  on  the  Sabbath,  and 
his  neighbors,  who  knew  his  manner  of  life,  always 
gathered  at  the  stand  to  hear  him.  I  seldom,  if 
ever,  missed  his  sermons.  He  was  not  literary, 
still  less  was  he  learned,  but  I  was  always  re- 
freshed and  edified  by  Uncle  Bellah's  simple  minis- 
try. Like  Enoch,  he  walked  with  God,  and  his  frail 
bod}7  was  a  veritable  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  I 
could  see  in  the  soft  radiance  of  his  eye  somewhat 
of  the  look  of  the  Master  when  He  broke  Peter's 
heart.  His  voice  was  shattered,  but  it  was  deeply 
sympathetic  and  sometimes  thrilled  my  inmost 
soul.  He  belonged  to  a  class  of  preachers  that 
are  not  often  met  with  nowadays  in  the  older 
conferences.  The  stipend  he  drew  from  the  con- 
ference when  a  superannuate  kept  him,  with  other 
contributions,  from  actual  want,  but  the  dear 
old  man  was  doubtless  sore  pressed  at  times. 

I  wish  I  may  have  as  bright  a  crown  in  glory  as 
Uncle  Bellah,  but  I  know  I  don't  deserve  it,  and  it 
may  be  sin   ul  to  wish  it. 

Oh,  these  old  brethren,  the  Bellahs  and  Andrew 
J.  Deavors,  and  John  P.  Dickinson  and  Andrew 
Neese,  who  carried  me  round  his  circuit  when  I  was 
making  my  first  efforts  to  preach,  and  Alfred  Dor- 


OF    MINISTERS   AND    LAYMEN.  121 

man  and  such  like,  how  thememory  of  their  heroic 
virtues  makes  me  ashamed  of  ray  petty  ambi- 
tions before  God  had  humbled  me  as  in  these 
later  years. 

There  are  men,  however,  in  the  mountains  and  in 
the  wiregrass  that  are  doing  the  same  work  to- 
day that  these  old  fathers  did.  The  Lord  help  us 
to  honor  them  and  sympathize  with  them  and  ma}r 
their  tribe  increase  as  the  exigencies  of  the 
church  may  require. 


JOHN  H.  HARRIS. 

John  H.  Harris  was  a  preacher  of  much  more 
than  ordinary  gifts.  In  1875  he  was  stationed 
at  Evan's  Chapel,  Atlanta,  and  rendered  me  valu- 
able assistance  in  a  revival  which  I  was  conducting 
at  the  time  in  the  Trinity  congregation. 

His  preaching  wras  not  simply  emotional,  al- 
though that  was  probably  the  predominant 
feature;  but  it  was  besides  Scriptural  and  force- 
ful, and  as  a  consequence,  effectual  in  awakening 
the  impenitent  and  then  leading  him  to  Christ. 

Before  coming  to  Atlanta  he  had  served  several 
important  circuits  and  stations,  and  was  every- 
where greatly  beloved. 


122  BIOGRAPHIC     ETCHINGS 

My  remembrance  is  that  he  was  at  this  time  a 
sufferer  from  a  chronic  throat  disease  induced  by 
exposure  and  overwork  in  his  earlier  ministry.  He 
was  of  a  fervent  spirit,  and  this  led  him  very  often 
into  a  vehement  delivery  and  an  excess  of  vocifera- 
tion that  has  blighted  many  a  promising  minister's 
life  or  shortened  his  term  of  active  service. 

Brother  Harris  was  even  then  rapidly  nearing 
his  end,  and  died  early  in  the  following  }Tear,  1876, 
of  a  disease  which  it  is  now  fashionable  to  call 
heart  failure,  but  another  name  for  a  sudden 
break-down  of  the  vital  machine^ . 


ALEXANDER  SPEER. 

Alexander  Speer,  the  father  of  my  old  co-pas- 
tor, Dr.  E.  W.  Speer,  and  of  that  distinguished 
jurist,  Alexander  M.  Speer,  was  for  a  few  years  a 
member  of  the  conference.  I  had  some  intimacy 
with  him  in  1852,  and  wrhenl  retired  from  the  edi- 
torship of  the  LaGrange  Reporter  he  was  my  suc- 
cessor. 

Brother  Speer  was  a  remarkable  man.  He  was, 
in  his  early  life,  a  conspicuous  figure  in  South 
Carolina  politics.  At  one  time  he  was  Secretary 
of  State  in  that  Commonwealth  and  was   one   of 


OF   MINISTERS   AND    LAYMEN.  123 

the  ablest  and  readiest  political  debaters  known 
to  its  history.  In  the  pulpit  he  was  a  man  of 
mark. 

He  was  more  argumentative  and  only  a  shade 
less  classical  than  his  son,  Dr.  Eustace  Speer. 

He  was  a  great  favorite  as  a  preacher  with  the 
LaGrange  congregation,  and  several  times  I 
listened  to  him  with  delight  and  profit. 

There  can  be  little  doubt  that  but  for  the  over- 
shadowing influence  of  Mr.  Calhoun  he  would 
have  risen  to  great  political  eminence  in  his  native 
State.  Both  Petigrue  and  Legare  were  kept  out 
of  the  political  fields  by  this  same  influence,  and 
they  were  both  men  of  vast  ability.  At  that  date 
Federalism,  or  to  call  it  by  a  milder  term,  Whig- 
ism,  was  reckoned  a  political  felony  for  which 
there  was  no  absolution.  We  dare  say  that 
Brother  Speer  was  in  the  end  all  the  happier  by  his 
withdrawal  from  politics.  Certain  it  is  that  his 
last  days  of  ministerial  consecration  was  *the 
period  of  his  greatest  usefulness.  He  deliberately 
made'the  choice  of  Moses,  and  long  ago  he  reached 
the  same  exceeding  great  reward. 


124  BIOGRAPHIC     ETCHINGS 


GEORGE  W.  LANE. 

George  Smith,  in  his  valuable  history  of  Georgia 
Methodism,  notes  the  fact  that  George  W.  Lane 
came  to  the  conference  in  1835.  He  was  the  son 
of  a  prominent  preacher  of  the  Philadelphia  Con- 
ference who  for  years  was  connected  with  the 
Book  Concern. 

Young  Lane  was  liberally  educated  and  naturally 
a  gifted  preacher.  Being  in  delicate  health,  he 
was  assigned  to  St.  Augustine,  Florida,  wThere  he 
made  full  proof  of  his  ministry.  Afterwards  the 
church  needed  his  services  in  the  educational  field, 
and  he  was  elected  professor  of  languages  in 
Emory  College  where  he  contributed  much  to  the 
upbuilding  of  that  young  institution. 

I  am  not  sure  that  I  ever  met  Bro.  Lane,  but  the 
traditional  accounts  we  have  of  his  work  in  the 
pulpit  and  in  the  college  entitle  him  to  a  high 
rank. 

He  died  in  1857,  before  he  had  reached  middle 
life,  and  his  death  was  universally  regarded  as  a 
calamity  to  the  church.  He  was  the  father  of 
Prof.  Charles  Lane,  of  the  Georgia  Technological 
school,  who  inherited  a  goodly  share  of  his  father's 
best  gifts.  • 


OF   MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  125 


JOSEPH  J.  vSlNGLETON. 

Joseph  J.  Singleton  was  a  graduate  of  the  State 
University  and  was  an  honor  to  his  alma  mater. 

It  was  always  a  perplexity  to  me  that  a  man  of 
his  rare  gifts  and  graees  seldom  attained  to 
prominent  conference  positions. 

This  may  have  been  partly  due  to  his  quiet,  un- 
obtrusive disposition,  which  at  times  bordered  on 
shyness  and  even  awkwardness.  Perhaps  it  may 
have  resulted  in  no  small  degree  from  his  thorough 
unselfishness.  He  certainly  was  free  from  that 
prurient  ambition,  wThich  in  the  church  as  elsewhere, 
wins  its  way  to  preferment,  whilst  modest  merit 
languishes  in  comparative  obscurity.  It  was  in 
keeping  with  his  character  that  he  not  only  uttered 
no  word  of  complaint  but  accepted  his  Provi- 
dential lot  with  a  cheerfulness  befitting  a  child  of 
God  and  an  heir  of  glory. 

Dear  good  fellow,  as  he  was,  I  was  never  more 
impressed  by  the  sweetness  of  his  spirit  than  when 
at  the  last  conference  we  were  domiciled  together 
at  the  house  of  an  excellent  Baptist  brother. 

As  to  his  preaching,  it  is  needless  to  say,  to  those 
who  were  familiar  with  it  that  it  was  both  re- 
freshing and  edifying.  In  the  main  it  was,  as 
Bishop  McTyeire  was  wont  to  say,  "meat  and 
greens."    Yet  it  was  no  rehash  of  threadbare  pul- 


126  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

pit  sayings,  but  always  clear-cut  and  forcible.  His 
style  was  such  classical  English  as  adorns  the 
pages  of  the  Spectator,  but  there  was  no  display 
of  rhetorical  flourishes,  such  as  pass  in  some  quar- 
ters for  tine  preaching. 

That  was  a  striking  tribute  of  Sir  James  Mac- 
intosh to  "Butler's  Analogy"  that  it  contained 
"the  best  philosophy  of  Christianity"  that  was 
ever  published.  While  I  do  not  accept  this  extrava- 
gant estimate,  yet  I  have  sometimes  thought  that 
Brother  Singleton's  matter  and  manner  of  speech 
was  not  unlike  that  of  the  bishop  of  Durham. 

His  scanty^  salaries,  ofttimes  painfully  inade- 
quate for  the  support  and  education  of  a  large 
family,  constrained  him  at  some  periods  of  his  life 
to  resort  to  secular  employment.  He  was  in  de- 
mand as  a  practical  geologist  and  as  an  expert  in 
the  location  of  gold  deposits  and  other  valuable 
ores.  While  this  was  to  be  regretted,  he  was  con- 
scientious in  all  he  did,  and  was  never  neglectful 
of  any  ministerial  work  which  he  had  in  hand. 

His  success  in  the  work  of  conversion  was  not 
phenomenal,  yet  down  to  his  last  day  he  was 
everywhere  beloved  and  admired  by  the  people  of 
his  various  pastoral  charges.  His  children  who  sur- 
vive him  are  usefully  employed  and  not  unworthy 
of  their  pious  father. 


OF   MINISTERS    AND   LAYMEN.  127 


WALTER  R.  BRANHAM 

Was  born  in  Eatonton,  Ga.,  November  18,  1813, 
and  left  this  world  from  his  home  at  Oxford,  Ga., 
on  Sunday  afternoon,  September  2, 1894.  Another 
member  of  our  Father's  family,  part  on  earth  and 
part  in  heaven,  has  crossed  the  flood. 

There  are  sad  hearts  on  this  side  the  river, 
And  tears  have  been  shed  at  the  going  of  our  brother; 
But  while  we  mourn  the  departure  of  the  loved  and  lost, 
The  redeemed  are  greeting  the  saint  that  has  crossed. 

Brother  Branhamwas  a  son  of  Dr.  Branham,  of 
Eatonton,  one  of  the  most  distinguished  physi- 
cians Georgia  has  ever  produced,  and  who  was  also 
one  of  the  wisest  and  purest  of  her  public  men. 
He  represented  Putnam  county  in  the  house  of  rep- 
resentatives of  the  general  assembly  of  Georgia  for 
a  number  of  years,  and  was  then  elected  to  the 
state  senate. 

Brother  Branham  graduated  at  the  University  of 
Georgia  in  1835.  Among  his  classmates  was  that 
brilliant  orator  and  brave  soldier,  Gen.  Francis  S. 
Bartow,  whose  life  was  an  early  sacrifice  to  the 
"lost  cause,"  and  that  eminent  physician,  Dr.  Craw- 
ford W.  Long,  "the  discoverer  of  anaesthesia." 
An  important  event  in  the  life  of  our  deceased 
brother  occurred  the  year  of  his  graduation.  Of 
that  we  will  let  the  venerable  Dr.  A.  H.  Mitchell,  of 


128  BIOGRAPHIC     ETCHINGS 

Alabama,  a  witness  to  the  scene,  be  the  chronicler. 
Writing  of  Brother  Branham  in  the  Christian  Ad- 
A-ocate,  of  January  24,  1891,  he  said:  "The 
mention  of  this  name  brings  up  memories,  0  how 
precious,  how  ancient,  yea,  almost  forgotten. 
Walter  Branham !  Why,  Mr.  Editor,  I  received 
him  into  the  church  in  1835.  He  was  then  a 
student  in  college  at  Athens,  Ga.  I  was  not  sta- 
tioned at  Athens,  but  was  traveling  the  Gaines- 
ville circuit.  Richard  Mosley  was  stationed  at 
Athens,  and  he  proposed  to  change  appointments 
with  me  for  a  time.  While  at  Athens  I  opened  the 
door  of  the  church,  and  to  the  astonishment  of 
many — for  there  was  no  special  revival  going  on — 
Walter  Branham  came  up  and  gave  his  hand  for 
membership  in  the  church.  Many,  very  many 
precious  souls  I  have  had  the  pleasure  of  receiving 
into  the  church  ,•  and  have  long  since  forgotten, 
but  I  have  never  forgotten  young  Branham,  and 
with  what  dignity  and  manly  bearing  he  took 
this  first  step  in  a  religious  life,  and  how  quietly 
and  gracefully  he  has  moved  along  through  all 
the  changes  and  responsibilities  of  the  itinerancy." 
Brother  Branham  was  licensed  to  preach  in  Octo- 
ber, 1836,  by  Rev.  William  J.  Parks,  presiding 
elder  of  Macon  district,  and  in  December  of  the 
same  year,  at  Columbus,  he  was  admitted  on  a 
trial  into  the  Georgia  Conference,  and  sent  to 
the  Watkinsville  circuit  wTith  John  W.  Glenn,  then 
in  the  second  vear  of  his  ministry.    The  W7atkins- 


OF   MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  129 

ville  circuit  was  in  the  Athens  district,  and  Wil- 
liam J.  Parks  was  the  presiding  elder  of  that  dis- 
trict for  1837.  Bishop  James  0.  Andrew  presided 
over  the  conference  which  admitted  Brother  Bran- 
ham  and  the  men  who  joined  with  him.  Among 
his  classmates  was  that  courtly  gentleman,  that 
finished  scholar,  that  princely  preacher,  and  that 
spotless  Christian,  Dr.  Alfred  T.  Mann.  There  was 
another,  the  pathetie  tones  of  whose  musical  voice 
linger  in  memory  yet.  Who  among  us  could  ever 
sing  as  John  P.  Duncan  sang? 

Where  eyes  are  never  dim, 
He  sings  the  crowning  hymn, 
While  angels  listen  to  the  strain, 
And  wonder  at  the  sweet  refrain. 

Then  there  was  that  profound  theologian,  Rev. 
Josiah  Lewis,  Jr.,  who  was  as  well-equipped  for 
the  chair  of  a  quarterly  conference  as  he  was  for 
the  pulpit  of  a  camp-meeting.  These  were  some  of 
the  men  who  with  Walter  R.  Branham  entered 
the  old  Georgia  Conference  on  December  18th,  and 
who  with  him  have  left  to  us  the  undying  record 
of  their  labors.  The  future  historian  of  Georgia 
Methodism  will  place  these  Christian  heroes  side 
bv  side  with  the  earliest  defenders  of  our  faith, 
and  the  pioneer  preachers  of  Wesleyan  Arminian- 
ism. 

Let  us  take  a  glimpse  at  the  Georgia  Conference 
of  1836.  Among  the  prominent  members  of  that 
body  were  Lovick    Pierce,    William    Arnold,  Wil- 


130  BIOGRAPHIC   ETCHINGS 

liam  J.  Parks,  Isaac  Boring,  Jesse  Boring,  John 
W.  Tally,  George  F.  Pierce,  Caleb  W.  Key,  Sam- 
uel Anthony,  James  E.  Evans,  Whitefoord  Smith, 
John  W.  Yarbrough,  Alexander  Speerand  John  W. 
Glenn.  On  the  superannuated  list  appear  the 
names  of  such  men  as  Lewis  Myers,  Allen  Turner^ 
Samuel  K.  Hodges  and  Ignatius  A.  Few.  All  of 
these  men  have  left  the  earth,  and  not  a  single 
member  of  the  conference  of  1836  is  now  with  us 
December,  1836 !  An  immense  amount  of  Meth- 
odist history  has  been  made  since  then.  That  year 
the  old  Southern  Christian  Advocate  was  born 
and  in  1837,  Samuel  J.  Bryan  and  Thomas  C. 
Benning  were  collecting  funds  to  erect  buildings  for 
Emory  College.  The  ministerial  life  of  our  sainted 
brother  stretches  across  all  of  the  years  of  the 
existence  of  our  conference  college.  And  though 
he  was  an  alumnus  of  the  State  University,  yet  our 
own  college  had  in  him  a  true  friend.  His  vener- 
able form  will  be  missed  by  the  boys  that  return  to 
Oxford.  The  following  appointments  were  served 
by  Brother  Branham :  1837,  Watkinsville,  with 
John  W.  Glenn;  1838,  Augusta,  with  Isaac 
Boring;  1839,  Clinton  and  Monticello,  with  N  H. 
Harris;  1840-41,  Milledgeville;  1842,  Athens 
and  Lexington,  with  Daniel  Curry;  1843,  Law- 
renceville;  1844,  Madison ;  1845,  Eatonton,  with 
John  P.  Duncan;  1846,  Eatonton;  1847-48,  Yine- 
ville;  1849,  Macon;  1850-51,  Savannah;  1852, 
professor  in  Wesleyan  Female   College;  1853-54, 


OF    MINISTERS   AND    LAYMEN.  131 

supernumerary;  1855-56,  Covington  and  Oxford; 
1857-58-59,  Atlanta  district;  1860-61-62-63, 
Griffin  district ;  1864-65,  Atlanta  district ;  1866-67- 
68,  Athens  district;  1869-70,  Griffin  district;  1871, 
Washington  ;  1872-73-74,  Oxford  and  Social  Cir- 
cle; 1875;  Covington  and  Mount  Pleasant;  1876, 
Covington;  1877-78  Social  Circle;  1879,  Jackson  ; 
1880-81,  Oxford;  1882,  Atlanta  city  mission. 
Here  his  active  itinerant  ministry  of  forty-six 
years,  save  one  year  as  professor  in  Wesley  an 
Female  College,  and  two  yea  s  of  rest  necessitated 
by  feeble  health,  ended.  At  the  conference  of  1882 
he  was  placed  on  the  superannuated  list,  where  he 
has  since  remained.  After  more  than  forty  years 
in  the  ranks  of  effective  preaching,  he  gracefully 
retired,  carrying  with  him  the  love  and  respect  of 
all  of  his  brethren .  For  the  past  twelve  years  he  has 
gone  in  and  out  among  us,  illustrating  the  power 
of  sanctifying:  grace.  Having  fought  a  good  fight, 
having  kept  the  faith,  he  came  at  last  to  the 
"grave  in  a  full  age,  like  as  a  shock  of  corn  cora- 
eth  in  his  season." 

"Servant  of  God,  well  done ! 
Kest  from  thy  loved  employ, 
The  battle  fought,  the  vict'ry  won, 
Enter  thy  Master's  joy." 

M.  S.  Williams, 
H.  H.  Parks, 
W.  D.  Shea, 

Committee. 


132  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 


MILES  W.  ARNOLD. 

Rev.  Miles  W.  Arnold  was  born  in  Putnam  county 
Ga.,  October  10,  1829,  and  died  about  the  same 
day  and  month  of  the  jTear  at  his  residence  in 
Walton  county,  Ga.,  in  1894.  He  suffered  great 
pain  and  discomfort  during  his  last  illness.  As 
I  am  advised,  he  was  next  to  the  youngest  son  of 
the  venerable  William  Arnold,  whose  reputation 
for  piety  and  pulpit  efficiency  was  commensurate 
with  the  limits  of  the  old  South  Carolina  Confer- 
ence. Both  the  late  William  Arnold,  his  emi- 
nent father,  and  himself  had  a  considerable  share  of 
the  poetic  gift  and  were  both  sweet  singers  in  Is- 
rael. Brother  Miles  W.  Arnold  was  in  his  prime  a 
revivalist  of  marked  ability.  Few  preachers  of  his 
day,  whether  on  station  or  circuit,  exceeded  him 
in  the  number  of  conversions  under  his  ministry. 
In  temper  he  was  one  of  the  most  affable  men 
whose  acquaintance  I  ever  made.  His  genial  dis- 
position and  warm-heartedness  made  him  a  favor- 
ite among  all  classes  in  town  or  country .  Especially 
were  the  children  devoted  to  this  man  of  God, 
who  had  imbibed  no  little  of  the  spirit  of  Christ 
when  he  said,  "Suffer  the  little  children  to  come 
unto  me,  and  forbid  them  not."  Among  children 
of  larger  growth,    young    men    and    maidens,  he 


OF   MINISTERS  AND   LAYMEN.  133 

wielded  an  influence  that  endeared  him  to  them  all 
through  the  }rears  of  his  checkered  life. 

Brother  Arnold  was  twice  married  ;  once  to  Miss 
Martha  Baskin,a  most  excellent  Christian  woman 
of  Carroll  county,  Georgia,  by  which  marriage  he 
was  blessed  with  a  group  of  interesting  children, 
only  two  of  whom  survive — Lawrence,  the  busi- 
ness manager  of  a  prominent  institution  of  learn- 
ing in  the  city  of  Atlanta ;  and  Sallie,  the  wife  of 
a  substantial  citizen  of  Warren  county,  Ga. 

Brother  Arnold  in  dying  left  no  blur  on  his 
name,  and  his  last  moments  were  sweetened  by 
the  tender  ministry  of  his  second  wife,  a  Mrs. 
Nowell,  who  heroically  shared  with  him  the  hard- 
ships of  his  later  itinerant  life.  If  I  may  be  par- 
doned for  a  personal  remark  I  will  add  that 
I  never  had  a  more  constant  friend,  whether  in 
sickness  or  health.    Thank  God  that 

"While  there  is  no  fellowship  on  earth 
That  has  not  here  its  end," 

yet  beyond  the  stars  the  blessed  associations  of 
this  life  will  be  renewed  and  perpetuated  for  ever- 
more. 


134  BIOGRAPHIC     ETCHINGS 


W.  B.  MOSS. 

Rev.  W.  B.  Moss  was  a  native  of  North  Caro- 
lina and  entered  the  ministry  in  1841. 

He  had  the  advantage  of  a  good  academic  edu- 
cation and  was  a  student  of  the  standard  English 
and  American  literature.  His  pulpit  gifts  were 
excellent,  and  but  for  feeble  health,  he  would  have 
reached  a  high  position  in  the  ministry.  Even  as 
it  was  he  occupied  several  good  positions  in 
Hamilton,  Carrollton  and  subsequently  at  Augusta 
where  he  died,  leaving  an  excellent  wife  and  two 
sons,  the  elder  of  whom  died  during  the  late  civil 
war,  the  younger  still  surviving — the  bookkeeper 
of  The  Foote  &  Davies  Co.,  the  well-known  At- 
lanta publishers. 


M.  D.  C.  JOHNSON. 

Rev.  M.  D.  C.  Johnson  died  at  Griffin,  Ga.,  in 
July,  1849,  in  the  42nd  year  of  his  age.  He 
served  a  number  of  churches  in  the  Georgia  Con- 
ference, amongst  them  Washington,  Madison, 
Covington  and    ultimately    failed    from    broken 


OF    MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  135 

health  at  St.  Augustine,  Fla.  Several  years  of  his 
life  were  spent  at  Culloden,  the  headquarters 
of  both  local  and  itinerant  Methodist  preachers,  a 
half  century  ago.  While  here  he  was  an  intimate 
friend  of  Bro.  Cook,  the  excellent  father  of  Dr. 
W.  F.  Cook,  who  is  still  a  leader  in  the  Georgia 
Conferences. 

Bro.  Johnson  was  likewise  a  cordial  friend  of 
Bishop  Pierce  when  the  latter  was  in  his  prime. 
The  bishop  esteemed  him  an  able  preacher,  and  he 
only  lacked  health  to  have  made  him  a  minister 
of  great  distinction. 

The  venerable  relict  of  Bro.  Johnson  still  sur- 
vives at  the  ripe  age  of  eighty-four  and  is  a  model 
of  consistent  piety.  Two  of  her  sons,  Mark  W. 
and  Joseph,  are  favorably  known  in  the  business 
and  ecclesiastical  circles  of  Atlanta  and  its  vicinity. 


JOHN  HOWARD. 

In  no  small  measure  the  founders  of  American 
Methodism  set  great  store  by  that  quality  that 
our  English  ancestors  denominate  "pluck."  From 
Asbury,  the  pioneer  bishop,  to  Jesse  Lee,  the  apos- 
tle of  New  England,  and  Richmond  Nloley,  who 
died  in  the  swamps  of  the  Mississippi  of  a  mala- 


136  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

rial  fever,  they  were  strangers  to  "any  fear  of 
mortal  man."  Hope  Hull,  Lewis  Myers,  and  John 
Howard,  were  in  this  apostolic  succession,  and 
with  other  early  leaders  of  Georgia  Methodism, 
esteemed  moral  courage  as  the  chief  est  of  the  car- 
dinal virtues.  During  the  first  year  of  my  minis- 
try, when  stationed  in  Columbus,  T  heard  mar- 
velous accounts  of  the  preaching  of  John  How- 
ard, and  hardly  less  of  his  wonderful  gift  of 
prayer.  Added  to  these  intellectual  endowments 
he  was,  in  shape  and  voice  and  gesture,  remarka- 
bly well-adapted  to  sway  the  vast  congregations 
that  flocked  to  his  ministry. 

Nor  was  his  celebrity  of  a  local  character,  but  ex- 
tended throughout  the  conference.  His  success  in 
bringing  penitents  to  the  altar  was  surpassed  by 
few,  if  any,  of  his  contemporaries.  His  stirring 
appeals  would  often  lift  an  audience  to  its  feet, 
and  were  made  more  impressive  by  a  voice  of 
vast  compass  that  seemed  to  sweep  the  entire 
gamut  of  the  minor  scale. 

Dr.  George  Smith,  who  has  searched  ever  nook 
and  corner  of  Georgia  Methodism  as  with  the  lan- 
tern of  Diogenes,  has  said  so  much  of  his  distin- 
guished kinsman  that  we  may  be  readily  excused 
from  further  details  in  this  biographic  etching. 
We  simply  add  that  he  was  not  the  least  conspicu- 
ous of  the  American  Howards  who  are  remotely 
descended  from  the  flower  of  the  English  nobility, 
who  figure  largely  in  the  chronicles  of  Froissart 
and  in  the  historical  plays  of  Shakespeare. 


OF    MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  137 


WM.  HOLMES  ELLISON. 

Wm.  Holmes  Ellison  first  came  into  notice 
among  Georgia  Methodists  as  president  of  Wesley- 
an  Female  College,  Macon,  Ga. 

He  succeeded  Dr.  (afterward  Bishop)  Geo.  F. 
Pierce,  and  was  at  the  head  of  that  institution  for 
ten  years  of  its  early  history.  It  soon  became  evi- 
dent that  no  better  selection  could  have  been  made 
for  that  important  position.  There  were  but  few 
men  in  the  entire  connection,  at  that  time,  who 
combined  so  well  as  he  the  qualities  required  to 
popularize  that  new  educational  enterprise  of  the 
church,  and  push  it  out  on  a  career  of  permanent 
usefulness  and  prosperity. 

Born  and  reared  in  one  of  the  best  Methodist 
families  of  Charleston,  S.  C,  he  had  what  com- 
paratively few  of  his  Methodist  contemporaries 
enjoyed,  the  advantage  of  a  regular  collegiate 
education.  Soon  after  finishing  his  college  course, 
he  was  licensed  to  preach,  and  joined  the  South 
Carolina  Conference. 

The  second  year  of  his  ministry  he  was  stationed 
in  Charleston,  his  native  city,  and  subsequently 
at  Wilmington,  N.  C,  and  Georgetown,  S.  C. 

In  the  mean  time  he  had  married  the  daughter  of 
Bishop  Wm.  Capers,  of  South  Carolina. 


138  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

At  the  close  of  his  term  at  Georgetown,  he  was 
called  to  the  chair  of  Mathematics  in  LaGrange 
College,  Ala.,  then  presided  over  by  Dr.  Robert 
(afterward  Bishop)  Paine. 

From  this  point  he  was  called  to  assist  in  the 
organization  of  the  Wesleyan  Female  College  at 
Macon,  Ga.,  and  after  serving  as  a  member  of  the 
faculty  for  two  or  three  years,  was  elected  presi- 
dent to  fill  the  place,  as  we  have  seen,  made  vacant 
by  the  resignation  of  Dr.  Geo.  F.  Pierce. 

Dr.  Ellison  was  a  charming  preacher,  a  most 
lovable  man,  a  model  college  president.  He  ma3rbe 
said  to  have  been  a  pioneer  in  the  higher  educa- 
tion of  girls.  The  institution  over  which  he  pre- 
sided was  the  first  chartered  female  college  in  the 
world.  He  devised  and  signed  the  first  diploma 
ever  given  to  a  girl  graduate.  To  him,  more  than 
to  any  educator  of  his  time,  was  committed  the 
task  of  formulating  the  right  conception  of  edu- 
cated Christian  womanhood  and  of  embodying 
that  conception  in  living  examples. 

It  is  not  too  much  to  say,  that  the  Wesleyan 
Female  College,  under  the  presidency  of  Dr.  Wm.  H. 
Ellison,  furnished  the  first  instances  of  the  very 
high  type  of  Christian  womanhood  which  to-day 
is  the  brightest  ornament  and  richest  treasure  of 
our  church  at  large.  After  ten  years  of  most  ardu- 
ous and  successful  service  in  the  college,  he  found 
his  health  giving  way  and  decided  to  turn  aside 
awhile    and    rest.    Accordingly,  he    resigned    the 


OF   MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  139 

presidency  of  the  college  and  moved  to  Alabama, 
intending  to  lead,  for  a  time  at  least,  a  retired  life 
on  a  farm. 

But  he  was  not  permitted  to  remain  long  in  re- 
tirement. In  the  course  of  a  year  or  two  we  find 
him  president  of  a  female  college  that  had  been 
established  at  Chunneenugge,  Ala.,  under  the  aus- 
pices of  the  Alabama  Conference,  to  which  con- 
ference he  had  been  transferred  on  his  removal 
from  Georgia.  Here  he  remained  four  or  five 
years,  bringing  the  new  institution  up  to  a  very 
high  standard  as  a  church  school. 

The  next  twenty  years  ot  his  life  he  gave  to  the 
regular  work  of  the  ministry  as  a  member  of  the 
Alabama  Conference. 

He  was  in  demand  for  the  best  stations  and  dis- 
tricts of  the  conference,  and  continued  to  do  effec- 
tive work  until  he  had  passed  his  three  score 
years  and  ten.  His  old  age  was  rich  in  the  fruits 
of  a  wide  range  of  study  and  observation,  com- 
bined with  long  experience  in  the  deep  things  of 
God. 

He  was  just  entering  his  eightieth  year  of  age, 
after  fifty-seven  vears  of  faithful  and  efficient  ser- 
vice in  positions  of  highest  trust  and  responsi- 
bility, when  the  Master  said,  "It  is  enough,  come 
up  higher." 


140  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 


WILLIAM  P.  HARRISON, 

THE    LEARNED    SCRIBE. 

For  more  than  thirty  j^ears  I  was  intimately  as- 
sociated with  this  eminent  divine,  whose  recent 
death  has  brought  profound  sorrow  to  thousands 
of  friends  who  admired  him  for  his  rare  ability, 
and  loved  him  for  his  excellent  social  qualities. 
For  two  years,  1866-67,  I  was,  by  episcopal  ap- 
pointment, his  assistant  at  the  First  Methodist 
Church,  of  Atlanta.  During  the  first  year  of  his 
pastorate  I  supplied  his  pulpit  for  three  months, 
while  he  went  to  a  number  of  Northern  and  Western 
cities  on  a  canvassing  tour  in  behalf  of  a  new  church 
which  he  had  projected,  and  which,  after  grave 
discouragements,  he  ultimately  completed.  From 
his  own  lips,  during  our  frequent  interviews,  I 
gathered  the  story  of  his  boyhood  while  a  merry 
and  ubiquitous  sprite  in  his  father's  printing  office 
in  Savannah.  Hehad  few  educational  advantages 
in  his  youth  except  such  as  were  afforded  him  at 
the  compositor's  case,  where  he  acquired  the  rudi- 
ments of  his  mother  tongue,  which  in  after  years 
he  mastered  to  a  degree  scarcely  equalled  by  his 
foremost  pulpit  contemporaries.  As  opportunity 
offered  he  became  an  insatiate  reader  of  books, 
and  as  he  phrased  it,  he  "was  not  always  discrimi- 
native" in  his  selection  of  them.    He  was  excess- 


OF   MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  141 

ively  fond  of  folklore,  and  not  less  so  of  such  writ- 
ings as ''Robinson  Crusoe,"  the  "Arabian  Nights" 
and  DeFoe's  "History  of  the  Devil."  But  he  soon 
developed  better  tastes  and  higher  literary  aspira- 
tions, becoming  a  voracious  student  of  history 
and  biography. 

From  the  start  he  exhibited  also  the  qualities  of 
bibliophilist,  commencing  the  accumulation  of  a 
library  which  in  his  lifetime  resulted  in  a  library 
of  ten  thousand  volumes,  very  many  of  them  rare 
and  costly  books  which  he  purchased  in  Europe. 
If  he  had  any  weakness  it    lay  in  this    direction. 

I  have  sometimes  suggested  to  him  in  a  playful 
mood,  as  we  sat  and  smoked  in  his  study,  that  he 
had  as  great  a  craving  for  books  as  Jack  Falstaff 
had  for  Dame  Quickley's  cup  of  sack.  "Ah,  me," 
he  would  reply,  "these,  Scott,  are  my  working 
tools."  When  I  rejoined,  "But,  Harrison,  you 
forget  what  Wesley  said  of  the  Homo  unius  libri," 
and  then,  quick  as  a  lightning  flash  would  come 
the  surrejoinder,  "True  enough,  but  then  you  seem 
to  have  forgotten  that  Wesley  himself  wrote  a 
dozen  different  grammars  of  as  many  languages^ 
and  sermons  by  the  hundred.  He  was  far  himself 
from  being  a  man  of  one  book."  And  thus  we 
spent  hours  in  like  pleasant  interchange  of  views, 
uniformly  conducted  in  the  best  of  temper.  Look- 
ing back  to  these  ambrosial  hours  when  we  were 
both  young,  and  then  recalling  his  late  intermentjat 


142  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

Linwood  cemetery,  we  feel  almost  like  saying  with 
Hamlet,  in  the  graved iggers'  scene:  "Alas,  poor 
Yorick,  I  knew  him  well!"  For  although  in  many 
respects  unlike  the  king's  favorite  jester,  he,  too, 
was  a  man  of  infinite  jest  and  marvelous  fancy 
when  in  companionship  with  congenial  spirits  at 
the  fireside  or  the  dinner  table.  But  I  fear  I  am 
indulging  more  than  is  seemly  in  this  autobio- 
graphic vein. 

But  his  chief  literary  aim  was  to  become  a  lin- 
guist. Without  a  master  he  acquired  Hebrew  and 
its  cognate  dialects,  in  which  he  made  great  pro- 
ficiency. So  likewise,  with  Greek  and  Latin  he 
was  only  less  familiar. 

Several  of  the  modern  languages,  especially 
German,  French  and  Spanish,  he  was  fairly  ac- 
quainted with,  reading  Goethe  and  Schiller  with 
considerable  facility  and  Don  Quixote  and  Racine 
with  equal  readiness.  When  it  is  remembered  that 
he  had  comparatively  little  scholastic  training, 
these  were  remarkable  achievements. 

This  is,  we  believe,  a  just  critical  estimate  of  his 
philological  attainments.  He  was  neither  a  Max 
Muller  nor  a  Mezzofanti,  but  with  equal  collegiate 
advantages,  he  would  have  been  worthy  of  their 
fellowship. 

Dr.  Harrison  was  prone  to  burn  the  midnight  oil 
and  this,  in  part,  accounts  for  his  chronic  invalid- 
ism through  much  of  his  life 


OF   MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  143 

As  early  as  the  close  of  his  first  pastorate  at 
First  Methodist  church  he  was  well-nigh  a  physical 
wreck.  The  conference  was  in  session  at  Atlanta, 
he  being  bedridden  by  nervous  prostration.  He 
sent  for  me  two  or  three  nights  before  the  adjourn- 
ment. 

I  obeyed  his  summons,  went  to  the  parsonage 
and  found  him  greatly  dispirited.  He  told  me  he 
was  anxious  to  remain  in  Atlanta,  and  he  knew 
that  his  congregation  desired  it.  I  knew  that  fact 
quite  as  well,  for  he  was  a  great  favorite  with  all 
sorts  and  conditions  of  men  throughout  the  city. 

He  then  asked  me,  as  a  personal  favor,  to  con- 
tinue my  present  relation  to  himself  and  the 
church,  assisting  him  in  the  pulpit  until  his  health 
was  re-established.  I  replied  that  I  was  not  ready 
to  abandon  my  connection  with  the  conference, 
nor  to  give  up  the  publication  of  my  magazine. 
Indeed  I  could  not  do  the  latter,  as  I  was  legally 
obligated  to  my  partners  to  continue  in  the  edi- 
torship. But  that  to  assist  him  in  the  present 
emergency  I  was  willing  to  give  him  occasional  help 
in  the  pulpit  without  compensation,  as  I  derived 
a  fair  income  from  the  magazine.  He  thanked  me 
heartily  and  said  :  "Scott,  I  want  you  to  go  at 
once  and  see  Bishop  Pierce  and  say  to  him  what 
you  have  said  to  me,  and  I  think  the  question  will 
be  settled."  I  did  immediately  as  he  requested  and 
had  a  private  interview  with  the  bishop  at  his 
hotel  on  Alabama  street.    When  I  spoke  to  the 


144  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

bishop,  he  replied  that  he  thought  of  sending  me  to 
Griffin.  I  rejoined:  "Bishop,  as  you  well  know, 
I  always  obey  orders,  but  I  trust  you  will  not 
make  that  appointment,  as  my  business  interests 
would  greatly  suffer."  "Well,"  said  the  bishop, 
"First  church  cannot  support  both  of  you." 
"Well,  bishop,  I  promised  Harrison  that  if  you 
would  not  remove  him  I  would  still  assist  him 
without  charge  as  far  as  circumstances  would  pos- 
sibly allow."  "I  think,"  answered  the  bishop, 
"that  I  see  light,  and  there  is  no  good  reason  why 
it  should  not  be  done." 

I  think,  however,  that  it  was  probably  a  fore- 
gone conclusion  to  remove  him,  not  for  any  dis- 
satisfaction in  the  church,  but  for  his  own  sake  to 
transfer  him  to  the  milder  climate  of  the  South 
Georgia  Conference.  I  believed  when  the  transfer 
was  made  it  was  a  mistake,  and  so  it  turned  out. 
As  for  myself,  I  was  appointed  to  a  half  station  at 
Acworth,  where  I  had  a  delightful  three  years' pas- 
torate that  yielded  me  a  half  support  for  preaching 
two  Sundays  in  the  month.  No  pastoral  work  was 
required  of  me  and  I  had  ample  time  for  pushing 
the  interests  of  the  magazine.  Dr.  Harrison, 
meanwhile,  returned  to  North  Georgia,  and  with 
the  aid  of  several  warm  personal  friends,  located 
on  a  truck  farm  near  Marietta,  Ga.,  where  he  strug- 
gled for  two  years  with  an  agricultural  experi- 
ment that  yielded  him  very  unsatisfactory  re- 
turns. 


OF    MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  145 

But  while  as  a  financial  venture  it  was  a  failure, 
his  health  was  greatly  benefited,  and  for  the  next 
two  years  he  was  appointed  to  the  Rome  dis- 
trict, where  he  did  some  of  his  best  work. 

The  next  \rear  he  resumed  his  pulpit  work  in  At- 
lanta to  the  evident  gratification  of  his  former 
charge.  It  is  now  in  order  to  speak  of  him  as  a 
preacher,  and  yet  so  well-established  was  his  repu- 
tation in  that  regard  that  I  shall  not  enter  into 
details. 

His  preaching  was  uniformly  of  a  high  order, 
but  there  were  special  topics  upon  which  it  was 
wonderful  alike  in  force  and  eloquence. 

Amongst  these  was  his  sermon  on  Christ's  collo- 
quy with  Peter  at  the  sea  of  Tiberias.  In  that 
sermon  he  drew  the  distinction  between  the  Greek 
verbs  agapo  and  phileo  which  was  at  times  unfavor- 
ably criticised.  Another  was  his  notable  discourse 
on  Paul's  address  on  Mars  Hill,  in  the  course  of 
which  he  spoke  learnedly  of  the  different  schools  of 
Athenian  philosophy.  Another,  which  Rev.  Peter 
A.  Heard  esteemed  his  most  masterly  effort,  was 
when  the  Saviour  said  to  the  seventy  disciples  : 
"Rejoice  not  that  the  spirits  are  subject  unto  you, 
but  rather  rejoice  because  your  names  are  written 
in  heaven." 

I  have  sometimes  said  to  him  that  his  plain 
gospel  sermons  were  his  best,  when  he  occasionally 
rose  to  the  high-water  mark  of  Bishop  Pierce. 
Sermonic  literature,  as  I  once  said  to  Bishop  Hay- 


140 


BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 


good,  is  not  much  in  demand  but  a  small  collec- 
tion of  Harrison's  sermons  could  find   readv    sale. 

As  an  author  he  merits  no  little  fame.  His  first 
venture  of  this  sort  was  the  publication  of  "The- 
ophilus  Walton,"  a  reply  to  "Theodosia  Earnest," 
a  popular  rather  than  learned  treatise  on  the  Bap- 
tist controversy  which  some  years  ago  swTept  like 
a  prairie  fire  throughout  the  South  and  West. 
This  was  the  era  of  the  Graves  and  Brownlow 
controversy.  These  athletes  exhausted  the  vocab- 
ulary of  slang  and  vituperation  and  left  the 
question  where  they  found  it.  His  next  publica- 
tion was  ''The  Living  Christ,"  which  added  but 
little  to  his  former  reputation.  Indeed,  neither  of 
the  books  referred  to  form  any  considerable  part 
of  his  literary  inheritance.  As  a  writer  his  endur- 
ing fame  will  rest  on  his  splendid  contributions  to 
the  ''Editor's  Table"  of  the  Methodist  Quarterly 
Review.  This  was  always  a  favorite  department 
with  the  best  readers  of  that  ponderous  publica- 
tion. From  it  might  be  compiled  a  large  volume 
that  would  outlive  its  century  and  rank  its  author 
with  the  best  historical  and  theological  writers  of 
M  ethodism 

We  had  purposed  to  enlarge  on  his  social  quali- 
ties. These  might  be  compared  to  those  of  Oliver 
Wendell  Holmes,  the  self-stvled  "Autocrat  of  the 
Breakfast  Table,"  or  Charles  Lamb,  the  "gentle 
Elia,"  leaving  out  the  broad  churchism  that  charac- 
terized  the  latter  vears   of  the  former   and   the 


OF   MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  147 

ribald  jests  of  the  latter  when  he  was  saturated 
with  gin  or  opium.  He  was  best  seen,  however, 
in  a  circle  of  intimate  friends — for,  like  Addison, 
he  thought  that  conversation  was  impossible  in 
a  promiscuous  assemblage. 

Less  than  a  year  ago  I  had  a  brief  correspon- 
dence with  him  respecting  my  last  contribution  to 
his  review.  Of  these  there  were  several  during 
the  period  of  his  editorship,  for  which  he  always 
compensated  me  liberally. 

In  that  last  correspondence  he  spoke  meekly  of 
his  failing  eyesight  and  his  cancerous  affliction.  . 

It  was  a  little  singular  that  he  was  never  elected 
a  delegate  to  the  General  Conference  until  1882, 
when  a  member  of  the  Baltimore  Conference  and 
stationed  at  Winchester,  Va.  It  was,  however, 
due  to  no  lack  of  appreciation  by  his  ministerial 
brethren,  but  chiefly  because  that  he  evinced  no 
liking  for  parliamentary  proceedings.  He  was 
seldom  even  within  the  bar  during  the  conference 
sessions  and  less  frequently  did  he  take  part  in 
the  debates  of  the  body.  The  General  Conference, 
however,  made  amends  for  this  seeming  neglect  by 
electing  him  to  three  terms  of  service  as  book  editor 
and  editor  of  the  Quarterly  Review,  a  position  for 
which  he  was  splendidly  endowed.  This  place  he 
would  have  retained  for  another  quadrennium  but 
for  the  rapid  decline  of  his  health,  foreshadowing 
his  death  at  an  early  date.  Amidst  all  the  mutations 
of  worldlv  fortune — the  death  of  several  members 


148  BIOGRAPHIC     ETCHINGS 

of  his  household  and  his  intense  bodily  suffering, 
he  clung  to  his  trust  in  God.  The  ministry  of  a 
faithful  wife,  and  the  sympathy  of  a  host  of 
friends  illumined  his  death  chamber  so  that  he 
passed  away 

"Gently  as  to  a  night's  repose, 
Like  flowers  at  set  of  sun." 


JOSIAH  LEWIS. 

When  the  Georgia  Conference  held    its    fifth  an- 
nual session  at  Columbus  in  December,  1836,  four 
young  ministers  asked  to    be    admitted    into    the 
itinerant  ranks.     They  were  duly  received   and  be- 
gan a  long  career  of  marked  usefulness  which  has 
deeply  impressed  the  moral  and   religious  history 
of  the  "Empire  State  of  the  South."    They  were 
alike  in  their  devotion  to  the  cause  they  espoused, 
but    as    different  from  each  other  in  natural  tem- 
perament as  the    crystals    of    the    falling    snow. 
Walter  R.  Branham    was  the    "beloved  disciple," 
delighting  ever  in  the  message,  "little  children  love 
one  another;"    John  P.  Duncan  was  the  Asaph  of 
his  day,   singing  his  way  to    the    hearts    of    men 
that  he  might  bring  them  into  harmony  with  God. 
Alfred  T.  Mann  was  the  Apollos    of    his    church, 


OF   MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  149 

swaying  b}r  his  matchless  orator}7  and  winning  by 
his  passionate  appeals ;  Josiah  Lewis  was  na- 
ture's masterpiece,  stern  but  tender,  grave  but 
cheerful,  humble  but  courageous,  trustful  but 
mighty.  He  was  unique  in  his  individuality, 
creating  a  suspicion  of  eccentricity,  but  a  simpler 
stronger  nature  has  seldom  been  known  among 
men.  A  man  of  clear  convictions,  his  opinions 
were  well-grounded  and  boldly  held.  His  mental 
cast  was  logical,  arguing  from  premises,  and  reach- 
ing conclusions  wrhich  he  was  prepared  to  defend. 
His  intellectual  character,  like  his  religious  life,  was 
moulded  by  familiarity  with  theBible.  He  thought 
in  the  terse  utterances  of  the  word  of  God,  and 
expressed  himself  writh  telling  force.  Those  who 
frequently  heard  him  in  the  pulpit  have  often 
been  aroused  into  wonder  at  his  power  of  state- 
ment compacted  into  discourse.  The  preachers  of 
the  "rifle,  axe  and  saddle-bags"  period  were  men 
of  "one  book."  "They  eave  attendance  to  read- 
ing,  to  exhortation,  to  doctrine,"  and  qualified 
themselves  by  the  careful  study  of  the  "one  book." 
Brother  Lewis  was  no  exception  to  the  rule,  and 
yet  he  had  supplemented  the  limited  educational 
advantages  of  his  youth  by  adding  to  his  mental 
store  a  liberal  knowledge  of  the  classics,  both 
ancient  and  modern.  indeed,  as  opportunity 
offered,  he  delighted  to  make  excursions  into  the 
tempting  fields  of  general  literature.  Nevertheless 
the  Bible  was  his  chief  study.     It  was  a  real  fasci- 


150  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

nation  to  him— a  charm  that  was  never  broken. 
It  engaged  him  and  all  his  powers.  For  hours 
each  day  I  have  seen  him  digging  deep  into  the 
mines'of  truth,  and  like  the  miners  of  Cornwall, 
he  found  the  ore  richer  and  brighter,  as  with  the 
light  of  God's  spirit,  he  penetrated  farther.  Now 
and  then  he  seemed  to  arouse  from  his  absorbing 
search,  and  a  positive  glow  would  rest  upon  his 
stern  features,  and  mellow  light  would  sparkle  in 
his  dancing  eyes.  It  was  as  if  he  had  met  his 
Lord  in  some  divine  vision  of  His  will  and  word. 
Such  preparation  gave  him  the  well-merited  power 
of  exegesis.  Bishop  Pierce  was  accustomed  to 
consult  him  as  he  would  a  commentarvon  difficult 
passages,  and  prized  his  interpretations  as  those 
of  a  master.  A  story  of  the  earlier  days  has  come 
down,  that  on  one  occasion  in  the  presence  of 
Bishop  Pierce  and  other  ministers,  Bro.  Lewis 
undertook  the  elucidation  of  a  much  controverted 
text.  Perhaps  the  doctrine  had  just  been  dis- 
cussed at  the  fireside,  and  deep  interest  had  been 
awakened,  our  hero  observing  his  usual  reserve  un- 
til called  on  to  speak.  The  hour  for  preaching 
had  come  and  abruptly  broke  off  the  discussion. 
The  exegete  was  the  preacher  that  day,  and  to 
the  surprise  and  delight  of  the  ministers  he 
announced  the  passage  whose  mysteries  they  had 
been  trying  in  vain  to  solve.  Without  unneces- 
sary delay  he  ''launched  into  the  deep."  Sentence 
after  sentence  in  tersest,  strongest   words  fell  like 


OF   MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  151 

flashes  of  light  through  the  lowering  clouds,  col- 
lation and  comparison  of  related  doctrines  famil- 
iar as  a  song  of  childhood  cleared  the  opening 
sky,  until  in  briefer  space  than  is  often  used  in  in- 
troductions to  what  are  called  "fine sermons,"  the 
heavens  rolled  before  the  astonished  company  in 
azure  blue,  and  the  sun  of  truth  was  shining  in 
wondrous  revelation.  His  task  done  he  cast  his 
glance  upon  the  preachers  present,  and  quaintly 
said,  "Now,  if  any  of  you  can  beat  that,  you  may 
have  a  chance  to  try."  Nobody  tried,  the  contro- 
versy was  ended. 

A  commentary  on  the  Bible  from  his  pen  would 
have  taken  much  time  from  his  preferred  field 
work,  but  such  a  book  would  have  been  a  rare 
addition  to  ''Helps  in  the  study  of  God's  word." 
The  Arminian  view  of  theology  was  his  natural 
correspondence.  His  straightforward,  manly, 
mental  movement  easily  fell  into  this  form  of 
doctrinal  truth.  He  believed  it  from  his  heart, 
and  preached  it  with  unwonted  power.  Calvin- 
ism had  no  place  in  his  thoughts  except  to  find 
arguments  to  destroy  it.  He  felt  that  it  was  lit- 
tle less  than  sin,  God  was  dishonored  by  it,  and 
men  should  not  believe  it  if  he  could  helpit.  Some- 
times he  was  severe  in  his  denunciation  of  the 
"awful  heresy."  On  occasion  he  would  rise  with 
the  might  of  a  conqueror,  and  upset  every  founda- 
tion on  which  it  was  built.  When  Calvinists  were 
present  in  his  congregation  he  seemed  most  on  fire 


152  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

to  speak  the  truth  as  he  saw  it.  I  remember  one 
bright  Sabbath  when  all  the  congregations  of  a 
little  city  crowded  into  his  toenjo\r  a  day  with  the 
Methodists.  Baptists  and  Presb\'terians  were 
there  in  force.  It  was  communion  day,  but  no 
matter,  Arminius  must  be  supported  and  Calvin 
driven  from  the  field.  The  argument  began 
quietly  with  premises  well  laid.  The  building 
went  up  stone  on  stone.  The  corner  columns 
stood  together  in  clasped  embrace.  The  great 
builder  saw  the  completed  structure,  perfect  and 
strong.  His  whole  nature  swelled  and  bounded 
with  the  tides  of  feeling  and  confidence  and  rising 
upon  the  highest  billows  of  his  impassioned  soul, 
he  knew  no  limitations,  but  boldly  declared  in  a 
very  outburst  of  fervor,  "Arminianismis  true,  and 
John  Calvin  has  done  more  harm  than  any  six 
infidels  that  ever  lived.  If  he  was  saved  at  all  it 
wasb3Tthe  skin  of  his  teeth."  The  Methodists  had 
close  communion  that  day. 

Though  he  reveled  in  "forensic  eloquence"  it  must 
not  be  inferred  that  he  was  confined  to  this  form 
of  pulpit  power.  In  no  sense  was  he  a  one-sided 
messenger  of  the  truth.  Devoting  himself  wholly 
to  the  work  of  the  ministr}',  never  turning  aside 
from  its  demands  upon  him,  never  resting  through 
the  forty  years  of  his  itinerant  life,  he  was  a 
preacher  in  the  completest  sense,  and  nothing  but 
a  preacher  of  the  whole  gospel,  in  every  phase  of 
it.     I  have  heard  him  discourse  on   Love,  and   his 


OF   MINISTERS   AND    LAYMEN.  15B 

tones  were  as  tender  as  a  flute,  while  his  words 
were  as  choice  and  pure  as  crystal  streams.  His 
sermon  on  "Charity  never  faileth,"  was  a  breaking 
of  the  alabaster  box  of  precious  ointment,  mellow- 
ing the  heart  and  leaving  a  long  perfume.  It  was 
a  matchless  presentation  of  the  high  theme.  His 
unfaltering  courage  and  uncompromising  fidelity 
were  of  the  quality  to  stand  any  test.  No  mere 
circumstances  affected  him.  He  could  say  with  the 
emphasis  of  the  apostle  to  the  Gentiles,  "None  of 
these  things  move  me,  neither  count  I  my  life 
dear  unto  myself."  No  form  of  evil  escaped  his 
denunciation.  No  fear  of  men  restrained  his 
rebukes.  In  a  certain  county  in  Georgia  while 
slavery  existed,  his  trusty  old  horse  took  fright 
at  a  group  of  half -clad  ragged  negro  children  on 
the  road.  He  was  going  to  camp-meeting,  and 
got  a  message  on  the  way.  At  the  principal  hour, 
in  the  presence  of  thousands,  many  of  whom  were 
large  slave-owners,  his  the  me  was  theduty  of  mas- 
ters to  slaves.  He  toldthe  incident  of  the  neglected 
children,  and  the  frightened  horse,  and  cried 
aloud,  sparing  not  the  inhumanity  of  masters 
to  their  slaves,  and  demanding  reform.  There 
was  no  mincing  of  words,  no  cringing  that 
"thrift   might  follow  fawning." 

He  waxed  warmer  and  grew  bolder  as  he  found 
he  was  denouncing  an  evil,  alas,  too  common  in 
that  section.  The  sermon  produced  a  sensation. 
The  guilty  were  excited  to   the  highest  pitch,  and 


154  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

they  turned  their  wrath  toward  the  preacher. 
Threats  of  violence  were  freely  made,  and  reached 
his  ears.  Without  a  fear  he  moved  among  his  ene- 
mies, and  when  the  storm  had  passed,  the  daunt- 
less prophet  lived  to  see  a  great  reform.  No  sketch 
of  Josiah  Lewis  would  be  at  all  lifelike  that 
did  not  at  least  make  mention  of  his  love  of 
humor.  He  had  the  keenest  appreciation  of  the 
ludicrous,  often  finding  it  where  the  ordinary 
observer  would  fail  to  see  it.  I  have  seen  him  con- 
vulsed with  laughter,  and  "when  he  laughed  he 
laughed  all  over."  Once,  passing  down  the  princi- 
pal street  of  a  city,  he  had  a  vision  of  fun.  It 
was  too  much  for  him.  He  stopped  still,  and  sup- 
porting himself  on  my  shoulder,  his  great  body 
shook  with  emotion,  until  tears  poured  down  his 
glowing  cheeks.  His  support  soon  failed  him 
under  the  law  of  contagion.  He  once  enj'03'ed  a 
huge  joke  on  the  two  weather  prophets  of  a 
Georgia  town.  It  came  about  in  this  way.  During 
a  long,  dry  summer  in  the  seventies,  he  was  help- 
ing the  pastor  in  a  protracted  meeting,  spending 
a  week  among  the  brethren.  One  day  four  or  five 
of  the  officials  joined  him  and  the  pastor  at  a  din- 
ing. After  dinner,  sitting  on  the  veranda,  the 
party  naturally  bewailed  the  heat  of  the  weather, 
and  the  poor  prospect  for  rain.  One  brother  said 
the  dry  spell  would  continue  for  some  time,  as 
Maj.  A.  had  announced  that  there  would  be  no 
rain  for  six  weeks,  and  Judge  P.  had  agreed  with 


OF   MINISTERS    AND   LAYMEN.  155 

his  fellow-seer,  except  that  he  thought  we  might 
be  refreshed  with  a  shower  in  foar  weeks. 
There  was  no  need  of  a  weather  bureau  in  that 
town  when  these  oracles  spoke.  Their  prognosti- 
cations were  a  law  unto  many.  "Uncle  Joe"  heard 
what  was  said.  He  was  weather-wise  himself. 
With  a  curious  twinkle  in  his  black  eyes,  he  looked 
up  into  the  sky.  A  little  to  the  southwest  there 
was  a  cloud  no  bigger  than  a  man's  hand.  He 
kept  watch  on  it.  At  last  under  an  excitement 
which  he  could  not  conceal,  he  said,  "if  the  wind 
does  not  jump  the  corner,  we  will  have  rain  in 
less  than  twelve  hours."  This  was  a  bold 
prophecy  in  that  town,  but  he  made  it,  and  now 
it  was  prophet  against  prophet.  The  company 
sat  together  an  hour  or  more,  now  and  then 
recurring  to  the  weather.  Meanwhile  the  cloud 
grew,  and  the  wind  pla\red  true.  Uncle  Joe's  ex- 
citement became  intense.     The   air  was    changing 

CD  O 

in  temperature,  and  nature  threw  out  her  signal 
of  the  near  approach  of  rain,  and  then  in  a  few 
minutes  more  the  great  drops  began  to  fall. 
With  an  air  of  triumph  our  old  Elijah  arose,  and 
warned  the  company  that  "if  they  did  not  hurry 
home  they  would  get  a  wetting."  All  bade  adieu 
to  the  host  and  hastened  down  the  street.  On  the 
way  a  hea\w  fall  of  rain  ran  the  party  into  the 
stores  for  shelter.  While  standing  in  the  door  re- 
joicing in  the  refreshing  from  the  clouds,  some  one 
pointed   out  to    Uncle  Joe,    Maj.    A.   and    Judge 


156  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

P.,  both  big  and  fat,  running  for  dear  life  to  get 
out  of  the  rain.  That  was  joy  enough  for  him. 
The  false  prophets  had  fallen. 

There  was  no  service  that  night  on  account  of 
the  rain.  Next  morning  the  sun  arose  bright  and 
beautiful  and  every  tree  beamed  with  gems  in 
raindrops  on  their  leaves.  The  prayer-meeting 
was  rich  in  songs  of  praise,  and  happy  hearts  were 
full  of  gratitude.  Uncle  Joe  began  his  prayer  in 
these  words.  "Oh  Lord,  we  thank  thee  for  thy 
goodness,  remembering  us  when  we  forget  thee. 
We  especially  thank  thee  for  the  refreshing- 
showers  that  have  fallen  upon  the  earth,  in  spite 
of  the  prophecies  of  ungodly  men,  who  cannot 
trust  thee  in  thy  providence." 

In  his  latter  life  Bro.  Lewis  leaned  upon  a  staff 
with  a  head  of  gold.  It  was  a  present  to  him  from 
his  friends  who  were  attending  the  commence- 
ment exercises  of  Emory  College.  Inscribed  on 
the  precious  metal  were  these  words  : 

"Rev.  Josiah  Lewis, 
Our  Model  Patron." 

One  after  another,  seven  noble  sons  have 
graduated'  with  the  honors  of  the  institution,  and 
each  one  took  a  manly  place  among  men.  Two 
have  joined  their  father  on  the  other  shore. 
Others  of  them  are  honoring  his  name  on  earth, 
perpetuating  the  work  which  he  began.  He  lives 
in  them  and  theirs,  and  "his  works  do  lollow 
him." 


OF   MINISTERS   AND    LAYMEN.  157 


W.  C.  BASS. 

Often  have  I  made  eulogies  on  my  deceased 
brethren ;  never  have  I  responded  more  cheer- 
fully than  on  this  occasion,  sad  as  it  is  for  maru' 
reasons.  There  is  a  strange  juxtaposition  here. 
The  report  which  I  have  just  read  by  request  of  the 
committee  on  memoirs  was  not  from  my  pen;  it 
was  written  by  the  late  Dr.  Clark,  in  expectation  of 
an  earlier  departure  of  Dr.  Bass,  and  it  was  printed 
before  either  of  them  passed  into  the  beyond, 
Dr.  Clark  going  first.  The  report  is  fully  endorsed 
by  me  except  as  to  two  immaterial  facts  of 
date  and  place.  Bishop  Pierce's  first  sermon  was 
delivered  in  Monticello,  Ga.,  after  announcement 
by  that  stentor,  Wesley  P.  Arnold.  So  the  bishop 
himself  told  me,  remarking,  "and  everything  that 
could  get  on  a  shoe  came  out."  Let  me  say  no 
wonder,  for  he  was  the  son  of  Lovick  Pierce,  the 
prince  of  preachers. 

Again,  the  South  Carolina  Conference  was 
divided  (setting  off  Georgia)  in  January,  1831 — not 
at  the  close  of  the  year.  George  F.  Pierce  joined  at 
the  first  session  of  the  Georgia  Conference,  Janu- 
ary, 1831.  These  alterations  are  very  small  and 
amount  to  nothing  but  to  be  more  accurate. 

Capers  Bass,  as  he  was  always  called,  was  a 
South  Carolinian,  though  born  in    Augusta,    Ga. 


158  BIOGRAPHIC     ETCHINGS 

lie  was  educated  at  divers  places,  but  chiefly  at 
Cokesbury,  S.  C,  and  Emory  College,  Georgia. 
Being  six  years  older  than  Dr.  Bass,  I  was  at 
Cokesbury  several  years  in  advance  of  him.  I 
first  saw  him  on  the  stage  at  Emory  College.  A 
powerful  young  man  in  bodily  strength,  with  a 
most  commanding  voice.  It  was  a  Sophomore 
exercise  and  he  declaimed  Webster's  great  speech 
on  the  Union.  His  physical  and  vocal  powers 
made  this  very  appropriate.  But  it  was  strange 
for  a  South  Carolina  boy,  feeling  as  he  did  with 
his  State,  to  speak  Webster,  the  most  national  man 
in  America.  South  Carolina  at  that  very  date 
was  attempting  secession  which  was  effected  ten 
years  later. 

Dr.  Bass  had  many  fine  traits.  Of  some  I  will 
speak  freely.  As  a  preacher  he  was  highly 
respectable. 

He  had  a  marked  fondness  for  preaching  on 
parables  and  narratives  and  herein  he  wTas  an 
adept.  His  chief  distinction,  however,  was  as  an 
educator.  After  serving  at  Greensboro  and  Madi- 
son, he  came  to  the  Wesley  an  Female  College  as  a 
professor  of  natural  science.  This  chair  he  filled 
fifteen  years  under  divers  presidents.  When  Dr.  E- 
H.  Myers  resigned,  Dr.  Bass  was  advanced  to  the 
presidency.  He  filled  this  office  twenty  years — in 
all  he  was  in  the  Wesleyan  College  thirty -five 
years.  The  college  was  run  on  the  leasing  plan, 
and  he  and  Dr.  Cosby  W.  Smith  were  the  lessees. 


OF   MINISTERS   AND    LAYMEN.  159 

Smith  had  less  ambition  than  any  man  of  learn- 
ing I  ever  knew.  He  was  the  senior  of  Bass  but 
did  not  want  the  presidency  and  gladly  surren- 
dered his  claims  to  the  junior  partner.  They 
were  like  David  and  Jonathan,  in  perfect  accord, 
until  six  years  ago  when  Dr.  Smith  suddenly  died. 

Dr.  Bass  must  be  viewed  as  a  man  of  affairs 
having  very  great  executive  talents.  During  my 
long  residence  in  Macon — twenty-five  years — I 
have  never  heard  of  a  servant  or  teacher,  or  mer- 
chant or  bankercomplaining  of  Dr.  Bass  for  even 
tardiness,  and  he  carried  this  vast  load.  His  corps 
of  professors  respected  and  even  admired  him. 
The  internal  affairs  of  the  college  ran  srnoothly 
under  his  control.  When  it  became  necessary  to  have 
a  final  settlement  with  him  (I  speak  as  a  trustee), 
it  was  found  that  he  had  advanced  money  for  the 
trustees  beyond  his  duty,  and  a  balance  of  three 
hundred  and  fourteen  dollars  was  due  Dr.  Bass, 
which  we  admitted  and  paid. 

Dr.  Bass  was  a  very  generous  and  unselfish  man, 
and  very  much  of  an  altruist — he  did  not  live  for 
himself,  but  to  do  good.  How  many  poor  young 
women  he  has  educated  free  of  tuition  and  by 
reduced  board  none  will  ever  know.  These  women 
owe  him  a  debt  of  gratitude  they  can  scarcely 
pay,  but  they  should  make  an  endeavor.  Let 
the  hundreds  trained  by  him  now  rich  unite  to 
honor  his  memory  by  erecting  a  lasting  monu- 
ment in  the  form  of  a  science  hall,  the  most  impera- 


160  BIOGRAPHIC     ETCHINGS 

tive  want  of  the  college.  ]  am  safe  in  saying  no 
man  in  Georgia  has  done  so  much  for  female  edu- 
cation. 

You  do  not  think  it  strange  that  Dr.  Bass  did 
not  grow  rich,  in  view  of  what  has  been  stated — 
he  cared  little  for  money. 

It  was  a  dismal  day  in  April  last  when  the  trus- 
tees met  at  his  request  to  accept  his  resignation. 
Like  a  day  without  sunshine,  it  was  a  day  of 
gloom.  There  was  no  alternative,  for  he  was 
nearing  the  grave.  Dr.  Branch,  president  of  the 
board,  myself,  chairman  of  the  executive  board, 
and  Col.  Isaac  Hardeman  were  appointed  to  seek 
a  new  president.  We  went  to  Virginia  for  him 
and  Mr.  E.  H.  Rovve  was  proposed  and  elected. 
May  he  wear  the  mantle  of  Bass  well  and  in 
honor. 

The  speaker  could  be  fuller,  but  this  is  enough. 
President  Bass  wras  a  man  of  rare  combination. 
His  broad,  bright  smile,  like  a  sun  beaming 
through  rich  windows,  we  shall  see  no  more;  his 
powerful  voice,  suited  to  the  command  of  martial 
battalions,  will  nevermore  be  heard  in  pulpit  or 
on  the  stage  at  conference  or  college.  He  lived 
well  for  God  and  mankind,  died  in  honor  and  peace 
to  live  forever. 


OF   MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  161 


LEWIS  J.  DAYIES. 

Few  men  of  his  day  were  better  equipped  for 
effective  pulpit  work  than  Lewis  J.  Davies.  His 
school  advantages  were  excellent,  and  he  was 
reared  in  a  community  where  he  naturally  acquired 
a  fondness  for  art  and  literature. 

His  reading  in  after  life  took  a  broad  range  in 
theology  and  in  philosophy.  What  he  read  he 
thoroughly  digested,  and  there  was  in  his  preach- 
ing no  evidence  of  mental  dyspepsia,  but  a  clear 
and  vigorous  statement  of  divine  truth. 

He  was  especially  gifted  in  expository  preach- 
ing, which  he  esteemed  the  best  method  of  pulpit 
teaching.  I  shall  always  remember  a  sermon 
which  he  preached  in  Wesley  Chapel  in  1861,  dur- 
ing a  memorable  revival,  the  gracious  results  of 
which  still  abide  in  the  membership  of  the  First 
Church.  His  theme  was  the  fall  of  Jericho,  and 
the  sermon  fairly  electrified  the  crowded  audience. 
It  was  often  said  that  the  manner  of  Davies,  in 
the  delivery  of  a  discourse  was  quite  like  the  man- 
ner of  Jesse  Boring.  But  while  there  was  a  sort 
of  intellectual  affinity  between  these  able  men, 
neither  was  a  copyist. 

As  for  Davies,  he  had  a  most  striking  individu- 
ality.   I  have  even  heard  him  charged  with  heresy 

because  some  of  his  theological  views  were  not  in 

11 


162  BIOGRAPHIC   ETCHINGS 

harmony*  with  the  prevailing  denominational 
sentiment.  As  a  stationed  preacher  he  was  not 
very  much  in  demand  by  the  larger  churches.  His 
forte  was  district  work,  and  his  best  preaching 
was  probably  done  tinder  the  shadow  of  Yonah, 
or  Currahee  or  within  earshot  of  Tallulah,  as  it 
lifts  its  thunderous  psalm  of  praise  to  Him  "who 
girded  the  mountains  with  strength." 

One  of  the  last  and  best  sermons  which  I  ever 
heard  fall  from  his  lips  was  at  Little  River  Camp- 
ground, in  Cobb  count}',  where  he  had  a  host  of 
admirers,  to  whom  for  many  years  he  made  an 
annual  visitation.  It  was  an  elaborate  discussion 
of  the  atonement  in  which  he  ventured  to  dissent 
from  the  current  belief  of  the  majority  of  his 
ministerial  brethren.  His  doctrinal  divergence 
was  not,  however,  so  wide  as  to  constitute  a 
stumbling  block  to  any  sincere  believer. 

With  all  his  gifts,  Brother  Davies  was  modest 
almost  to  a  fault.  This  doubtless,  may  have 
circumscribed  his  influence  and  hindered  his  ec- 
clesiastical preferment.  But  he  enjoyed  the  esteem 
and  confidence  of  his  brethren  in  a  high  degree, 
and  his  death  was  reckoned  a  calamity  to  the 
church  he  so  faithfully  served.  He  was  happily 
wedded  to  a  daughter  of  Rev.  John  C.  Simmons, 
himself  a  man  of  deserved  prominence  in  the  con- 
ference. To  her  he  was  indebted  greatly  during 
his  seasons  of  bad  health  consequent  on  nervous 
prostration.  This  excellent  Christian  woman  still 


OF    MINISTERS   AND    LAYMEN.  163 

survives  to  serve  the  church  in  some  of  its  most 
important  enterprises. 

The  familiar  lines  of  Halleck  on  the  death  of  his 
poet  friend,  Joseph  Rodman  Drake,  might  be 
justly  applied  to  Lewis  J.  Davies: 

"  None  knew  him  but  to  love  him, 
None  named  him  but  to  praise." 


JAMES  B.  PAYNE. 

James  B.  Payne  was  like  John  W.  Knight,  "a 
brand  plucked  from  the  burning."  They  were 
both  combative  in  their  instincts  and  apart  from 
converting  grace  were  better  suited  to  the  prize 
ring  than  to  the  pulpit.  After  their  conversion 
and  entrance  into  the  ministry,  they  were  mili- 
tant saints,  after  the  fashion  of  Peter  Cartwright 
and  Gideon  Ousley. 

They  were  valiant  in  defending  the  truth  and 
made  no  compromise  with  sin,  whether  in  high  or 
low  places. 

I  first  heard  "Uncle  Jimmy"  preach  at  Rome  in 
1854,  just  after  the  death  of  his  son  in  Savannah. 
His  sermon  was  on  the  sweet  uses  of  providential 
affliction.     In  the  conclusion  he  referred  to  his  late 


164  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

bereavement  in   a    way    that    brought    alternate 
shouts  and  sobs  from  the  audience. 

This  brings  us  to  the  remark  that  despite  the 
occasional  prosiness  of  his  style,  there  were  times 
when  his  mastery  of  a  congregation  was  perfect. 

When  stationed  atLaGrange  many  yeras  ago  he 
conducted  one  of  the  most  wonderful  revivals 
known  in  the  history  of  Western  Georgia.  From 
that  period  the  LaGrange  church  became  one  of 
the  wealthiest  and  most  influential  in  the  Geor- 
gia Conference.  The  Ridleys,  the  Bulls,  the 
Heards,  the  Turners,  the  Hills,  the  Morgans,  the 
Bealls,  the  Greenwoods,  and  a  dozen  other  fami- 
lies besides  were  not  less  distinguished  for  culture 
and  piety  than  the  leading  Methodists  of  Athens 
and  Columbus. 

In  the  years  following,  Brother  Payne  occupied 
prominent  positions  on  districts  and  stations, 
and  more  than  once  was  chosen  as  a  delegate  to 
the  General  Conference. 

For  several  years  towards  the  close  of  his  use- 
ful life  he  was  a  resident  of  Atlanta,  greatly 
honored  and  beloved  by  all  the  denominations. 

Perhaps  his  last  effective  service  was  in  connec- 
tion with  Payne's  Chapel,  to  the  organization 
and  upbuilding  of  which  he    contributed    largely. 

At  the  time  of  his  death  he  was  a  citizen  of 
Upson  county.  We  need  not  add  that  his  death 
was  triumphant. 


OF   MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  165 


BISHOP  JOSHUA  SOULE. 

"Once  upon  a  time,"  as  the  old  story-tellers  were 
wont  to  phrase  it,  I  spent  an  evening  with  Bishop 
Joshua  Soule,  one  of  the  foremost  men  of  Ameri- 
can Methodism.  A  native  of  "the  district  of 
Maine"  which  Massachusetts  for  many  years 
treated  with  true  stepmother  policy,  he  was  of  a 
lofty  stature  and  of  an  imperial  bearing  that  were 
suggestive  of  leadership.  He  was  stopping  a  few 
hours  at  the  old  Washington  Hall  of  Atlanta,  which 
occupied  during  the  war  the  present  sile  of  the 
Markham  House.  His  destination  was  Mont- 
gomery, Ala.,  whither  he  was  going  on  an  episco- 
pal visitation  to  the  Alabama  Conference.  The 
bishop  was  fortunate  in  having  that  rarely  gifted 
man,  Dr.  T.  0.  Summers,  as  a  traveling  compan- 
ion. The  bishop  was  bent  with  age  and  not  less 
bowed  down  with  grief  at  the  distracted  condition 
of  affairs  in  church  and  state. 

While  in  full  sympathy  with  his  adopted  section, 
the  South,  he  was  apprehensive  that  the  secession 
movement  would  result  disastrously. 

In  184-4  he  had  deliberately  withdrawn  from  the 
northern  wing  of  the  church,  because  he  regarded 
the  Finley  resolution  which  virtually  decapitated 
Bishop  Andrew,  as  a  blow  aimed  at  the  episco- 
pacy.     Rather    than  acquiesce  in    such    palpable 


166  BIOGRAPHIC     ETCHINGS 

wrongdoing,  he  turned  his  back  on  the  memories 
and  associations  of  his  childhood  and  riper  years, 
and,  like  Abraham,  went  forth  into  an  alien  land. 
He  never  wavered  in  his  allegiance  to  the  southern 
church,  and,  while  he  was  physically  unfitted  for 
heavy  work,  he  never  shirked  duty  or  responsi- 
bility. We  have  always  regretted  that  it  was  never 
our  good  fortune  to  listen  to  a  sermon  from  that 
master  of  assemblies  who  promulgated  that  great 
sermon  on  "The  Perfect  Law  of  Liberty."  Near 
the  witching  hour  of  night,  Dr.  Summers  and 
mvself  assisted  this  venerable  man  to  his  train. 
There  I  took  leave  of  him  to  meet  him  next,  I  de- 
voutly hope,  where  " there  is  no  night." 


BISHOP  HOLLAND  N.  McTYEIRE. 

My  earliest  acquaintance  with  Bishop  Holland 
N.  McTyeire  was  at  an  episcopal  reunion  held  in 
Atlanta  in  connection  with  the  annual  meeting  of 
the  parent  board  of  missions  in  1862.  By  cour- 
tesy, I  was  invited,  with  other  Atlanta  pastors, 
to  a  seat  in  the  bod}-,  with  the  privilege  of  discus- 
sion, but  without  the  right  of  voting.  Bishops 
Andrew,  Pierce  and  Paine,  were  present,  and  so 
were  Drs.  McTyeire,  A.  L.  P.  Green,  L.  D.   Huston 


OF    MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  167 

and  Wadsworth.     Several  prominent  lay  brethren 
were  present  whose  names  I  have  forgotten. 

The  General  Conference  set  for  May  of  that 
year  was  indefiniteh'  postponed  and  only  such 
matters  as  were  urgent  and  did  not  admit  of  de- 
lay were  disposed  of  in  an  informal  way. 

At  that  time  McTyeire  impressed  me  as  a  man 
of  superlative  abilit}^.  It  was  not  until  1866  that 
he  was  episcopally  ordained,  but  by  every  token, 
except  "the  technical  laying  on  of  hands,"  he  was 
then  as  much  of  an  episcopas  as  though  he  had 
been  consecrated  by  His  Grace  of  York  or  Canter- 
bury. 

My  next  meeting  with  the  late  bishop  was  in 
the  spring  of  1866,  at  which  time  he  was  the  pas- 
tor of  the  Methodist  Church  in  Montgmery,  Ala- 
bama. I  was  invited  to  a  tea  at  the  parsonage, 
when  I  first  saw  that  thoroughly  original,  if  not 
eccentric  divine,  Dr.  Joseph  B.  Cottrell.  It  is  not 
often  that  one  is  brought  in  contact  with  such  a 
pleasant  host  and  fellow-guest.  The  memory  of 
that  scene  is  still  fresh,  and  has  lost  but  little  of 
its  fragrance.  It  was  enlivened  by  choice  bits  of 
humor,  and  spicy  discussions  of  the  ecclesiastical 
situation  which  just  then  was  not  the  most 
promising.  No  one  of  the  part}',  however  thought 
that  a  reaction  would  ensue,  and  that  the  south- 
ern church  would  emerge  from  her  fiery  trial  puri- 
fied and  animated  with  loftier  aims. 


168  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

Very  many  people  were  wont  to  esteem  Bishop 
McT\'eire  as  wanting  in  sociability.  This  was  a 
misapprehension.  While  he  usually  had  an  air  of 
hauteur,  it  was  more  the  result  of  his  physical 
make-up  than  of  any  real  lack  of  the  amenities  of 
good  fellowship.  His  whole  nature  was  full  of 
sunshine,  and  there  was  about  him  a  keen  relish 
for  wit  and  pleasantry.  His  Scotch  inheritance  of 
common  sense  was  proverbial.  But  behind  this 
there  was  a  play  of  fancy,  and  even  a  sweep  of 
imagination,  which  at  intervals  would  thrill  his 
audiences. 

I  remember  well  a  district  conference  sermon  on 
"The  Minor  Ministries  of  the  Sanctuary,"  which 
might  well  rank  with  the  best  efforts  of  the  British 
or  continental  pulpit. 

As  a  writer,  he  was  not  voluminous,  but  his  his- 
tory of  Methodism,  lacking  somewhat  in  elabora- 
tion, is  the  best  of  its  class.  He  has  written  some 
sketches  which  remind  us  of  Longstreet — this  is 
especially  true  of  his  "Uncle  Cy."  A  more  satis- 
factory and  truthful  delineation  of  the  old  plan- 
tation patriarch  that  Mrs.  Stowe's  "Uncle  Tom." 

While  he  was  not  a  ritualist  in  any  offensive 
sense,  he  had  great  respect  for  the  prescribed  order 
of  services  in  the  ministration  of  the  Lord's  sup- 
per. On  one  occasion  he  reminded  the  pastor, 
who  officiated  at  the  holy  communion,  that  he  had 
omitted  some  parts  of  the  service;  adding  in  an 
admonitory  way,  "Take  care,  lest  you  fall  into 
/ 


OF    MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  169 

habit  of  abbreviating  the  services."  So  in  his 
death  chamber  at  Nashville,  he  said  to  the  minis- 
trant  from  whom  he  was  to  receive  his  last  sacra- 
ment, "Be  sure  and  read  the  whole  service." 

This  regard  for  what  some  esteem  trifles  was 
characteristic  of  this  great  man.  He  disliked  a 
perfunctory  method  in  the  sanctuary.  "Decently 
and  in  order"  was  his  motto,  and  he  was  true  to 
it,  whether  he  was  reading  a  h}rmn  or  pulverizing 
a  heresy  under  the  trip-hammer  of  his  invincible 
logic.  Having  referred  to  his  sketch  of  "UcleCy," 
we  subjoin  a  few  paragraphs,  which  we  are  sure 
will  be  read  with  no  little  zest. 

"Uncle  Cy  owed  much  to  his  wife — an  honest, 
truthful  and  virtuous  woman.  She  was  the  best 
nurse  I  ever  saw,  and  ministered  with  unspeakable 
fidelity  and  tenderness  to  my  parents,  and  brother 
and  sisters  on  their  deathbeds.  'Aunt  Bess'  was 
the  first  woman  I  ever  heard  praj'  in  public.  She 
was  a  leaven  and  a  light.  Some  influence  and 
honest  pennies  she  gained  by  practicing  that  deli- 
cate profession  which  the  Egyptians,  in  Moses' 
time,  turned  over  to  their  women.  Only  once  did 
she  fail  me.  When  the  Federal  armies  were  getting 
into  Alabama  we  proposed  to  put  our  silver 
spoons  and  such  things  in  her  keeping.  'Well, 
master,  in  course  I'll  do  it  if  you  says  so,  but  I  can't 
be  'sponsible.  Dem  Yankees  is  a  coming,  and  I 
hearn  tell  how  dey  carries  wid  'em  somethin'  like 
a  pinter  worm,  and  when  it's  sot  down  dey  tells  it 


170  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

to  pint  wha   any  money   or  silver  things   is   hid, 
and  it  pints  jest  as  straight  as  a  gun. 

•'Uncle  Cy's  family  pride  was   a  trait  character- 
istic of  the  old  regime.    I  have  seen   him  take  his 
wife  down  by  reminding  her  that  he   had   been   in 
the  family  longer  than  she.     Once  I  had   arranged 
with  a   neighbor,  Squire  Fowler,  to  get  a   swarm 
of  bees.     Uncle  Cy  was  hollowing  out  a  gum,  and 
with    some  hesitation   said.    'Master,  don't  you 
know    some    people    can't     get    into    bees?     Our 
family  is  too  industrious    for    bees.     Old    master 
tried  to  git  into  bees,  and  I  'member  well  how  old 
master  before  him  tried,  and  dey  never  could.  It's 
only  lazy,   poor  white  folks  has  any  luck  raising 
honey.     And  he  made  numerous  citations  in   sup- 
port of  his  position.     But  his  flattery  was  not  to 
balk  my  experiment.     I  got  into   bees      At  first, 
they  went  in  and  come  out  of  the  little  hole  at  the 
bottom  of  the    gum    briskly.     After    awhile,  few 
and  fewer;  then   only  a    straggler    or    two.    We 
knocked  off  the  top  and  found  a  triangular-shaped 
piece  of  comb,  but  no  honey.     So   ended   my  first 
and  last  attempt  at  getting  into  bees. 

"Farewell,  faithful,  loving,. dear  old  Uncle  Cy. 
I'm  sure  he  loved  me  and  prayed  for  me.  Indeed, 
they  tell  me  that  he  has  been  in  the  habit  of  pray- 
ing for  me,  by  name,  in  public  meetings.  My 
family  have  joined  me  every  3^ear  in  making  up  a 
box  for  Uncle  Cy  and  Aunt  Bess,  filled  with  half- 
worn  clothes  and  various  things  new  and  old,  such 


OF   MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  171 

as  they  liked  or  needed.  Christmas  is  coming,  but 
no  box  goes  that  way  any  more.  Our  children, 
and  the  generations  following,  can  never  know 
the  sentiment  that  sprung  up  between  the  two 
races  under  the  system  of  domestic  slavery.  It 
had  its  evil  and  it  had  its  good.  Both  are  gone 
forever." 


WM.  D.  ANDERSON. 

At  the  request  of  friends  and  relatives  of  the  late 
Dr.  Anderson,  I  come,  with  sad  heart  and  hesita- 
ting pen,  to  offer  my  feeble  tribute  to  his  name 
and  memory.  A  few  days  since,  as  I  stood  amidst 
a  weeping  throng,  met  to  perform  the  last  sad 
rites  to  his  dead  body,  as  I  saw  that  body  lowered 
into  its  final  resting  place,  memory  was  busy 
with  these  lines,  written  upon  the  death  and  burial 
of  a  wise  and  good  man  of  the  long  ago. 

"Ne'er  to  those  dwellings  where  the  mighty  rest, 
Since  their  foundations,  came  a  nobler  guest." 

This  couplet — as  applicable  to  the  present  case — 
will  be  stripped  of  seeming  exaggeration  when  it  is 
remembered  that  true  nobility  does  not   spring  up 


172  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

out  of  circumstances  of  birth  or  material  sur- 
roundings, but  from  excellencies  of  character — 
virtues  of  heart  and  life.  By  virtue  of  the  fact 
that  our  lamented  friend  and  brother  exemplified 
in  life  and  labors  the  elements  of  a  true  Godlike 
manhood,  let  him  stand  forth  as  the  peer  of  the 
noblest  and  the  best.  Through  the  ages  past 
many  of  high  repute  in  civil,  social  and  profes- 
sional life — kings,  warriors,  statesmen,  poets  and 
philosophers — have  lived,  died  and  been  laid  to 
rest  in  grand  mausoleums,  amid  the  tears  and 
sobs  of  a  nation,  while — 

"their  deeds  as  they  deserve 

Receive  proud  recompense." 

But  true  wisdom — wisdom  which  God  honors — 
looks  beyond  time  and  estimates  final  results.  In 
the  last  day  many  of  the  so-called  great  of  earth, 
whose  names,  perhaps,  have  been  sounded  far  and 
wide  by  the  "loud-mouthed  trump  of  Tame,"  will 
dwarf  into  nothingness  while  others,  far  less 
known  and  honored,  will  stand  forth  robed  and 
crowned  with  royal  splendors.  God  loves  and 
honors  those  who  love  and  honor  him.  For  such 
only  are  of  princely  stock — of  the  royal  blood  of  the 
Son  of  Mary.  Yet  how  many,  in  their  moral 
blindness,  fail  to  see  and  appreciate  the  fact. 
Many  so-called  titles  to  nobility  are  without  God's 
"image  and  superscription,"  Beneath  many  of 
these  claims  to  fame  and  fortune  may  be  found, 
written  with  invisible  hand     "Weighed  in  the  bal- 


OF   MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  173 

ances  and  found  wanting."  And  why  so  written? 
Because  that  which  constitutes  the  essence  and  in- 
carnation of  all  true  greatness  is  wanting.  Very 
many  formulate  opinions  and  are  governed  by  the 
maxims  of  time  and  sense.  But  God  does  not  so 
scan  the  outer  bulk  and  surface.  He  is  looking 
outside  of  the  charmed  circles  of  social  distinctions 
and  exalted  worldly  station,  and  is  inquiring  after 
the  great-hearted — those  who  love  God  and  love 
their  f  ellow-men— those  who,  iftneed  be,  are  willing 
to  die  for  the  truth  and  for  conscience  sake.  While 
men  are  formulating  opinions  and  passing  judg- 
ments according  to  externals,  God  searches  the 
within  looking  for  triumphs  over  self  in  the  battle — 
field  of  the  heart — the  realm  of  the  motives  and 
affections.  "He  that  ruleth  his  spirit"— through 
divine  agency  obtains  the  mastery  over  himself — "is 
better" — therefore  in  God's  estimate,  greater  ' '  than 
he  that  taketh  a  city."  Victory  over  self,  through 
Christ,  is  true  liberty — exaltation  into  citizenship 
in  the  kingdom  of  the  Lord  Almighty.  While  on 
the  other  hand,  a  man  of  self-seeking — a  lover  of 
fame  and  pleasure  more  than  of  God — may  ascend 
to  the  dizzy  heights  of  worldly  greatness;  but 
does  not,  cannot  reach  the  summit  of  true  wis- 
dom and  real  fame. 

These  thoughts  in  the  present  connection,  may 
appear  to  some  to  be  out  of  place.  But  when  we 
take  into  account  the  high  native  gifts  and  ac- 
quired abilities  of    our  deceased  friend,   together 


174  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

with  the  possibilities  before  him  of  brilliant 
achievements  in  professional  and  civic  life,  we  can 
have  only  a  dim  conception  of  the  battle  he  fought 
with  himself  before  he  obtained  the  consent  of  his 
mind  and  heart  to  forsake  all  and  follow  Christ. 
It  takes  a  hero — a  man  possessed  of  elements 
which  enter  into  the  composition  of  which  mar- 
tyrs are  made — to  turn  aside  from  thepathway  to 
fame  and  distinction,  and  become  an  itinerant 
Methodist  preacher.  At  his  Master's  bidding,  he 
literally  "sold  all" — so  far  as  human  opinion  goes. 
1  desire  to  stress  this  point,  for  it  indexes  his  great, 
true  character.  One  long  and  favorably  known 
to  the  deceased — himself  long  prominent  in  public 
life  and  official  station — said  to  me  a  few  days 
since:  "I  have  never  known  a  man  who  turned 
away  from  prospects  so  flattering  as  those  almost 
within  the  grasp  of  William  D.  Anderson.  A  seat 
in  congress  and  the  governor's  chair  were  easy 
possibilities  just  ahead  of  him.  If  you  write  of 
him,  stress  this  fact." 

What  a  contrast  between  the  subject  of  this 
memoir  and  the  "certain  ruler"  who  came  to 
Christ,  saying,  "Good  Master,  what  shall  I  do, 
that  I  may  inherit  eternal  life."  The  last,  learning 
the  conditions,  refused  to  comply,  going  away 
"sorrowful"  while  the  first,  after  a  severe  strug- 
gle with  himself,  and  a  fierce  conflict  with  Satan, 
obeyed  the  call  of  God,  and,  like  Abraham  of  old, 
"went  forth,  not  knowing  whither  he  went."    He 


OF   MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  175 

recognized  the  call  of  God  as  the  highest  call  to 
men,  and  he  obeyed.  He  understood  well  what 
this  act  of  obedience  implied  and  involved.  A  life 
of  sacrifice  on  the  one  hand  and  of  laborious, 
often  unremunerative  toil  on  the  other.  But,  with 
eye  of  faith,  he  saw  at  the  end  of  the  race-track 
upon  which  he  was  entering  a  crown  of  final  re- 
joicing. Toward  this  he  pressed  with  unfaltering 
step,  and  would  have  pressed  although  to  receive 
that  crown  might  subject  him  to  the  stroke  of 
Nero's  bloody  axe.  Decision  was  a  strong  point 
in  his  character.  I  stress  it  because  it  was  the 
pivot  on  which  revolved  the  mental  and  moral 
machinery  of  his  well-rounded,  well-poised  man- 
hood. With  him,  to  decide  was  to  do.  While  he 
often  consulted  with  friends  and  had  a  ready  ear 
for  the  opinions  of  others,  yet  he  took  no  step 
forward  or  backward  until  " fully  persuaded  in 
his  own  mind."  And  hence,  as  this  writer  be- 
lieves, from  close,  intimate  relations,  that,  at  the 
call  of  God — let  friends,  kindred,  the  world  say 
what  they  might — he  would  have  turned  away 
from  earth's  most  attractive  allurements  and  gone 
forth  "preaching  and  shewing  the  glad  tidings  of 
the  kingdom  of  God." 

The  subject  of  this  writing  was  born  at  Mari- 
etta, Ga.,  June  24, 1839.  He  was  the  son  of  George 
D.  and  Jane  Holmes  Anderson.  His  father  was  a 
judge  of  the  superior  court  at  the  time  of  his  sud- 
den and  unexpected    death.     His    mother    was  a 


176  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

woman  of  high  Christian  trpe.  So  he  inherited 
good  blood  and  fine  brain  power  from  both  his 
parents.  He  possessed  from  the  start  a  quick  and 
inquisitive  mind.  His  educational  facilities  were 
good.  He  graduated,  with  distinction,  at  the 
Georgia  University  in  1859.  Applying  himself  at 
once  to  the  study  and  practice  of  law,  he  soon 
won  honorable  rank  at  the  bar  of  his  native 
town.  But  soon  the  alarm  of  war  was  heard 
along  the  Southern  coast.  Fearing  that  the  battle 
might  be  over  before  he  should  have  opportunity 
to  try  his  "  'prentice  hand,"  he,  together  with 
four  others,  hurried  away  to  Charleston,  where 
he  entered,  as  a  private,  the  Palmetto  Guards,  of 
the  Second  South  Carolina  regiment.  Soon  after 
his  command  was  transferred  to  Virginia,  where 
he  acted  a  gallant  part  in  many  battles  now  fa- 
mous in  history — Bull  Run,  first  and  second  Bat- 
tles of  Manassas,  Yorktown,  Millersburg,  Seven 
Days  Around  Richmond,  Cold  Harbor,  Mechanics- 
ville,  Gaines'  Mill,  Savage  Station,  Fair  Oaks, 
Frazier's  Farm,  Malvern  Hill,  Fredericksburg, 
Chancellorsville,  Boonesboro,  Harper's  Ferry, 
Sharpsburg  and  Gettysburg.  At  the  battle  of 
Cold  Harbor  he  received  a  wound  in  his  right  hand 
which  he  carried  with  him  to  the  grave.  At  the 
close  of  his  first  year,  he  was  transferred  to 
Phillips'  Legion,  and  elected  as  first  lieutenant  of 
his  company,  which  he  often  commanded  as  cap- 
tain. 


OF   MINISTERS   AND    LAYMEN.  177 

At  the  close  of  the  war  he  returned  to  the  prac- 
tice of  his  profession,  at  Marietta.  He  married, 
in  April,  1865,  Miss  Louise  J.  Latimer,  of  South 
Carolina.  His  wife  was  a  most  excellent  and  pious 
woman.  To  her  godly  life  and  pious  example  was 
he  indebted  more,  perhaps,  than  to  all  other  hu- 
man sources  for  his  conviction,  conversion  and 
subsequent  career  of  usefulness  in  the  church. 
Her  death,  which  occurred  in  1875,  was  a  crushing 
blow  to  him,  but  wras,  msiy  be,  under  God,  the 
key  to  all  his  after  history.  In  1877,  one  }Tear 
after  entering  the  active  ministry,  he  married  Miss 
Lula  H.  Latimer,  youngest  sister  of  his  first  wife. 
By  these  marriages  he  left  nine  children— two  by 
his  first  wife — fine  young  men  and  full  of  promise 
to  church  and  state.  May  the  mantle  of  the 
lamented  father  fall  upon  one  or  both  of  them! 
What  a  host  of  saddened  hearts  throb  in  deepest 
sympathy  for  the  widowed  and    orphaned    ones! 

He  joined  the  church  in  1867  under  the  ministry 
of  the  Rev.  W.  F.  Cook.  As  might  have  been  ex- 
pected of  one  of  his  firm,  earnest  nature,  he 
served  the  church  wisely  and  well,  filling  very  ac- 
ceptably the  offices  of  trustee,  steward  and  Sun- 
day-school superintendent. 

While  in  private  civil  life  he  never  sought  after 
office.  Yet  his  fellow-citizens,  noting  his  integrity 
and  fitness  for  positions  of  trust  and  responsi- 
bility, honored  him  f  requenth'  by  electing  him  to  the 
legislature  of  the  state.     And  for  four  consecutive 

12 


178  BIOGRAPHIC     ETCHINGS 

terms  he  was  elected  to  preside  as  speaker  pro  tern  ^ 
over  the  deliberations  of  that  body.  The  second 
year  of  his  fourth  term  in  this  honorable  position 
he  resigned  his  seat  and  knocked  at  the  door  of 
the  North  Georgia  Conference  as  a  candidate  for 
"admission  on  trial."  His  friends  and  admirers 
at  home  and  abroad — he  had  hosts  uf  them — were 
astounded  at  the  step  he  was  taking,  which  some 
of  them  characterized  as  the  "climax  of  folly." 
But  "none  of  these  things"  moved  him.  His  mind 
was  made  up. 

He  was  appointed  to  and  served  the  following 
charges:  Eatonton,  1876;  Cedartown,  1877-8; 
Marietta,  1879-80  ;  Elberton  district,  1881-2 ;  First 
church,  Rome,  1883;  Marietta  district,  1884-6; 
First  church,  Athens,  1887-90;  First  church,  At- 
lanta, 1891;  First  church,  LaGrange,  1892; 
Oxford  district,  1893-4. 

Here  his  life-work  ends.  Who  shall  estimate  the 
value  of  such  a  life?  A  life  full  of  good  deeds  done 
by  the  "right  hand,"  which  the  "left  hand  never 
knew."  Who  shall  gather  the  "bread"  he  "cast 
upon  the  waters?"  Who  shall  garner  the  harvest 
grown  from  gospel  seed  which  he  sowed  upon 
valleys  and  hillsides  wherever  he  went?  After 
making  his  first  round  for  the  new  year  upon  the 
Oxford  district,  a  district  of  twent\r  appoint- 
ments, in  the  space  of  five  weeks — a  task  to  test 
the  toughest  muscle  and  most  robust  health — he 
returned  to  his    home    in    Marietta    to   fold    his 


OF    MINISTERS    AND    LAYMEN.  179 

hands  and  enter  into  sweet  rest.  His  last  illness 
was  severe  and  brief.  But  in  the  delirium  of  dis- 
ease his  mind  seemed  absorbed  in  his  loved  employ 
— the  "ruling  passion  strong  in  •death."  He 
preached,  prayed,  sang  and  counselled  the  brethren 
of  his  quarterly  conferences  as  though  they  were 
present  before  him.  The  day  before  he  died  his 
delirium  left  him  and  he  became  fully  conscious. 
He  said  to  his  brother-in-law,  who  stood  at  his 
bedside:  "Pierce,  what  do  they  say  is  the  matter 
with  me?"  Pierce  answered,  "A  very  severe  cold 
with  pneumonia  tendency."  "Well,"  said  he,  "I 
know  I  am  a  very  sick  man  ;  every  inch  of  me 
from  head  to  feet  feels  sick." 

Soon  after  he  fell  into  a  profound  slumber  and 
awoke  no  more.  About  6  o'clock,  February  19th, 
without  a  struggle  or  groan,  he  sank  into  the 
arms  of  death.  He  left  no  dying  testimony. 
None  was  needed.  His  pure,  noble,  consecrated 
life  was  enough.  As  to  how  he  was  loved  by  the 
ministry  and  laity,  the  multitudes  who  attended 
his   obsequies  abundantly  testify. 

Dr.  Anderson  as  a  friend  was  frank  and  faith- 
ful; as  a  father,  firm  yet  considerate;  as  a  hus- 
band, loving  and  tender;  as  a  Christian  and 
minister,  zealous  and  true.  In  short,  as  to  all  the 
elements  of  a  noble  manhood,  he  stood  out 
amongst  his  fellows  the  peer  of  the  noblest  and  the 
best.  Endowed  with  fine  native  gifts,  polished  by 
the  culture   of  the  schools,  broadened   and   well- 


180  BIOGRAPHIC     ETCHINGS 

drilled  by  reading  and  study,  he  forged  steadily  for 
ward  till  he  stood  in  the  front  rank  of  the  ministry 
of  his  church.  ^His  ability  and  personal  popularity 
are  attested  b}r  the  official  honors  his  brethren  be- 
stowed upon  him.  Secretary  and  treasurer  of  the 
aid  society,  president  of  the  legal  conference,  chair- 
man of  the  board  of  managers  of  the  Wesleyan 
Christian  Advocate;  trustee  of  Emory  and  of  the 
Wesleyan  and  LaGrange  female  colleges,  also  of 
the  Young  Harris  Institute ;  thrice  elected  a  delegate 
to  the  general  conference;  honored  with  the  title 
of  D.  D.  by  the  trustees  of  Emory  College.  Enough 
surely  to  gratify  ambition — if  ambition  he  had. 
But  he  had  none  in  the  sense  of  desire  for  mere 
honor's  sake.  He  rather  shunned  than  sought  the 
distinctions  men  confer.  If  he  had  aspiration  it 
was  to  know  the  truth,  not  for  himself  alone,  but 
that  through  his  knowledge  of  it,  he  might  make 
the  pathway  to  heaven  luminous  and  attractive 
to  others.  But  self-respecting  as  he  was,  he  was 
modest  and  diffident  as  to  his  own  worth  and 
abilit/v,  and  he  has  died  and  passed  away  without 
knowing  in  what  high  regard  he  was  held  by  his 
brethren  and  the  church  at  large. 

His  death  leaves  a  blank  hard  to  fill ;  but  still 
God  knows  what  is  best.  "The  workmen  die  but 
the  work  goes  on." 


OF    MINISTERS    AND    LAYMEN.  181 


A  SPLENDID  TRIUMVIRATE. 

Three  of  the  most  notable  conversions  of  which 
we  have  any  record  in  the  history  of  Georgia 
Methodism  were  those  of  Ignatius  A.  Few, 
Augustus  B.Longstreet,  and  Augustin  S.  Clayton, 
three  distinguished  jurists.  The  first  named  was  a 
native  of  Columbia  county  ;  a  graduate  of  Prince- 
ton, a  lawyer  of  special  prominence  at  the  Augusta 
bar,  and  until  he  reached  the  meridian  of  life,  a 
thorough  sceptic,  whose  conversion  was  largely 
due  to  the  personal  ministry  of  Rev.  Joseph 
Travis. 

In  his  fortieth  year  he  left  the  bar  to  enter 
the  pulpit,  where  he  made  a  reputation  unsur- 
passed by  any  man  of  that  period.  He  was  the 
first  and  perhaps  the  ablest  president  of  Emory 
College.  In  honor  of  him  one  of  the  two  literary 
societies  was  called  the  Few  and  its  hall  is  embel- 
lished b}r  his  portrait.  In  front  of  that  hall  is  a 
tasteful  monument  erected  by  his  "brethren  of  the 
mystic  tie." 

He  was  succeeded  in  the  presidency  by  Dr. 
Longstreet  who  was  worthy  of  his  mantle. 

The  second  of  this  triumvirate,  Judge  Longstreet, 
surrendered  the  judgeship  for  the  ministry,  pursu- 
ing the  four  years  course  of  study  in  the  conference 
with  marvelous  success.     Dr.  George  Smith,   how- 


182  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

ever,  testifies  on  the  basis  of  a  conference  tradition, 
that  "he  tripped  on  English  grammar."  This 
writer  has  perhaps  better  authority  for  saying,  as 
he  was  chairman  of  the  examining  committee, 
that  years  afterwards  Dr.  John  W.  Heidt  slipped 
tip  on  geography — although  a  graduate  of  Emory 
College,  we  believe,  with  honors,  and  a  gifted 
3'oung  barrister.  Judge  Longstreet  was  not  only 
a  great  preacher,  but  in  four  states,  Georgia,  Louisi- 
ana, Mississippi  and  South  Carolina,  was  presi- 
dent of  several  leading  colleges,  state  and  ecclesi- 
astical. Dr.  Heidt,  who  failed  on  bounding  Africa, 
had  also  a  brilliant  career  as  an  educator  in  Geor- 
gia and  Texas. 

Judge  Clayton  was  one  of  Georgia's  ablest 
statesmen  and  jurists,  having  served  in  the  state 
legislature,  in  the  Federal  congress  and  for  three 
terms  on  the  circuit  bench.  Tliese  continuous 
labors  brought  him  to  a  sick  bed  and  ultimately 
to  saving  faith  in  Christ.  The  story  of  his  con- 
version as  we  find  it  in  the  funeral  discourse  of 
Dr.  Whiteford  Smith,  at  that  time  the  pastor  of 
our  church  in  Athens  furnishes  an  eloquent  ac- 
count of  this  remarkable  conversion.  We  copy 
it  from  the  printed  sermon  which  cannot  fail  to 
interest  our  readers  of  all  classes  : 

"For  the  greater  part  of  his  life  Judge  Cla3rton 
had  been  sceptical  of  the  truth  of  Christianity. 
Though  always  respectful  to  those  who  made  a 
profession  of  religion,  yet  he  had  never  submitted 


OF    MINISTERS    AND    LAYMEN.  183 

himself  to  the  cross  of  Christ  until  within  the  last 
twelve  months.  During  the  month  of  August, 
1838,  he  was  attacked  with  paralysis  and  for  a 
short  time  lost  the  use  of  one  hand  and  his  arti- 
culation became  very  indistinct.  Upon  the  day  of 
his  attack  I  visited  him.  Knowing  that  the  fears 
of  his  family  and  friends  were  awakened  for  his 
safety  and  probably  judging  from  my  presence 
that  wre  were  particular^  anxious  about  his 
spiritual  state;  he  addressed  me  as  well  as  he  was 
able  in  these  words  'I  think  I  may  safely  say  I  am 
prepared  for  the  event.'  I  replied  that  I  had  per- 
ceived in  his  conversation  from  time  to  time  some 
familiarity  with  the  Bible  and  hoped  he  had  made 
it  a  matter  of  study.  His  answer  was  :  'No,  but 
in  all  my  dealings  with  the  world  and  in  all  my 
acts  I  have  always  had  regard  to  the  existence  of 
a  just  God ;  and  if  there  is  a  man  I  have  wronged 
I  do  not  know  him.'  Having  endeavored  to  di- 
rect his  mind  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  the  sacri- 
fice for  sin  and  to  the  necessity  of  the  merit  of  his 
atonement,  I  enquired  if  it  was  his  wish  that  we 
should  pray;  and,  he  desiring  it,  the  family  as- 
sembled and  we  prayed.  No  opportunity  offered 
(from  the  nature  of  his  affliction)  for  some  days  af- 
ter for  religious  conversation .  Some  short  time  sub- 
sequently, however,  when  he  had  so  far  recovered 
as  to  be  able  to  go  about,  understanding  that  he 
desired  to  see  me,  I  called,  accompanied  by  one  of  the 
ministers  who  was  in  attendance  at  a  protracted 


184  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

meeting  then  in  progress.  The  subject  of  religion 
was  now  introduced  and  never  had  I  witnessed  so 
great  a  change.  He  who  but  a  short  time  before 
had  been  dwelling  complacently  upon  his  own 
virtuous  deeds  and  even  meditating  an  entrance  into 
eternity  with  no  other  preparation,  now  sat  be- 
fore me  overwhelmed  with  grief  and  tears  at  the 
recollection  of  his  ingratitude  to  God  for  all  his 
mercies.  He  had  been  employed  in  reviewing  the 
past,  and  though  he  found  that  his  conduct  to- 
ward the  world  had  been  equitable  and  just,  he 
had  also  been  convinced  that  his  duties  tow7ard 
his  Maker  had  been  neglected.  Now  he  had  en- 
quired what  had  kept  him  from  being  a  Christian, 
and  havinglearned  the  true  state  of  his  own  heart, 
this  was  his  candid  confession  and  at  the  same  time 
his  avowal  of  his  purposes :  'Sir,  I  am  determined 
that  pride  of  opinion  which  has  so  long  kept  me 
from  embracing  Christianity  shall  keep  me  away 
no  longer.'  Nor  was  he  insensible  to  the  difficulties 
which  must  be  met  in  turning  to  God  with  repent- 
ance and  faith.  'In  pursuing  this  course,'  said 
he,  'at  every  step  I  am  met  by  a  committal;  and 
every  act  contrary  to  religion  is  a  committal  to 
vice.  But  shall  I  permit  these  things  to  deter  me 
when  I  see  the  extended  arms  of  my  God  ready  to 
receive  me?' 

"Having  abandoned  that  pride  of  opinion  which 
he  felt  had  so  long  prevented  his  becoming  a  Chris- 
tian, he  manifested  the  greatest  meekness  and  do- 


OF   MINISTERS    AND   LAYMEN.  185 

cility  in  the  reception  of  the  truth.  Sensible  that  in 
trusting  to  the  merit  of  his  own  good  works  he  had 
rested  upon  a  frail  and  weak  foundation,  he  now 
desired  to  place  himself  upon  another  and  a  surer 
basis.  And  upon  the  eternal  foundation  of  the 
prophets  and  apostles,  Jesus  Christ  himself  being 
the  chief  corner  stone,  there  was  but  one  way  of 
successfully  building  and  that  was  by  the  exercise 
of  an  humble  and  confiding  faith.  How  simple 
and  how  sincere  was  his  reception  of  the  Gospel 
may  be  best  learned  from  his  own  words:  'Sir,' 
said  he,  'I  view  myself  as  though  I  had  been  a 
heathen  shut  up  in  darkness  and  superstition; 
and  you  as  a  missionary  of  the  Cross  (for  all 
ministers  are  or  ought  to  be  missionaries)  were 
presenting  me  for  the  first  time  with  the  Bible,  and 
although  I  do  not  comprehend  all  that  may  be  in 
it,  yet  I  receive  it  all  by  faith.  I  throw  away,  as 
the  heathen  would  his  idols,  all  my  old  systems  and 
views  and  adopt  this  for  my  creed.  I  take  it  all.'  " 
The  thoroughness  of  his  moral  transformation 
Was  exemplified  when  a  few  weeks  after  this  inter- 
view he  went  to  the  sanctuary  in  great  bodily 
weakness  and  was  formally  received  into  the  fel- 
owship  of  the  Methodist  church.  His  precious 
wife  who  survived  him  for  a  number  of  years  was 
verily  one  of  the  noblest  matriarchs  of  Methodism 
whrm  it  was  ever  our  good  fortune  to  know. 


186  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 


FRANCIS  BARTOW  DA  VIES. 

Francis  Bartow  Davies  was  a  native  of  Savan- 
nah, of  excellent  parentage,  and  was  early  brought 
into  the  communion  of  the  Methodist  church.  At 
the  beginning  of  his  adult  life  he  engaged  in  secu- 
lar business,  but  in  a  few  years  responded  to  the 
Spirit's  call,  entered  the  traveling  ministry  and  was 
appointed  by  Bishop  Paine  toPalatkaiu  the  Flor- 
ida Conference,  in  which  body  he  served  effi- 
ciently for  several  years  His  health  then  became 
shattered  and  by  the  advice  of  physicians  and 
friends  he  retired  from  the  itinerant  work. 

During  this  season  of  rest  he  had  so  far  re- 
cuperated that,  upon  the  division  of  the  Georgia 
Conference  in  1866,  he  returned  to  the  regular  work 
and  was  successively  stationed  on  some  of  the  best 
circuits  of  the  North  Georgia  Conference  and  in 
all  respects  did  satisfactory  work  for  the  people 
of  his  several  charges.  One  who  had  the  best  op- 
portunities of  knowing,  has  said  that  he  was 
eminently  and  deservedly  popular  both  in  the  pul- 
pit and  the  pastorate.  His  mission  ar\^  work 
around  and  in  Atlanta  merits  special  commenda- 
tion. He  laid  the  foundations  of  the  highly  pros- 
perous Park  Street  Church  at  West  End.  He  was 
at  that  date  in  the  meridian  of  life.     His  ministry 


OF    MINISTERS    AND   LAYMEN.  187 

was  then   characterized  by  a   persuasiveness  that 
foreboded  years  of  great  future  usefulness. 

But  as  has  often  happened  in  ministerial  experi- 
ence, his  disease  assumed  a  more  malignant  aspect. 

In  1881  his  health  again  failed,  and  verv-  much 
to  his  own  regret  and  that  of  his  numerous  friends, 
he  was  compelled  to  relinquish  active  work.  His 
strength  continued  to  decline  until  in  the  forty- 
seventh  year  of  his  age  his  useful  career  was  closed. 

The  last  days  were  marked  by  perfect  peace  and 
joyful  resignation  to  the  Master's  will.  Indeed, 
there  was  somewhat  in  that  quiet  death-chamber 
at  Decatur,  Ga.,  thatsuggests  the  departure  of  the 
saintly  Bishop  McKendree  from  the  humble  farm- 
house in  Kentucky,  where  the  burden  and  refrain 
of  his  dying  testimony  was  "All  is  well." 

Bro.  Davies  seems  also  to  have  had  angelic  visi- 
tants to  illumine  his  pathway  through  the  val- 
ley of  the  shadow  of  death.  Amongst  his  latest 
words  which  he  whispered  to  his  wife  and  brother 
were  these  touching  sentences  :  "Oh,  how  peaceful 
— It  is  all  Heaven." 

No  wonder  that  we  are  taught  to  sing — 

"How  blest  the  righteous  when  he  dies." 

Or  that  another  veteran  hymnologist   should  re- 
buke our  lack  of  trust  by  the  inquiry, 

"Why  should  we  start  and  fear  to  die?" 

Thank  God  that  these  good  brethren  have  so 
often  helped  our  faith  by  their  testimonies   to  St. 


188  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

Paul's  declaration  that  "Death  is  swallowed  up 
in  victory."  No  higher  compliment  could  be  paid 
this  devoted  servant  of  God  than  when  Gen. 
Clement  A.  Evans,  in  an  obituary  notice  of  him 
shortly  after  his  death,  said:  "His  voice  was 
musical,  his  delivery  gentle  and  yet  earnest, 
and  his  thoughts  were  wise  and  always  clearly 
expressed.  As  a  pastor  his  people  found  in 
him  a  wise  counselor,  a  conservative  ad- 
ministrator and  in  their  sufferings  a  son  of  con- 
solation." Such  a  tribute  from  such  a  high  source 
may  be  well  prized  by  his  surviving  family  and  his 
host  of  friends. 


WM.  R.  FOOTE. 

In  December,  1854,  while  on  my  way  to  Colum- 
bus, I  spent,  with  my  wife,  two  or  three  days  at 
West  Point  with  a  family  whom  we  had  inti- 
matelv  known  in  Alabama,  where  at  one  time  I  had 
been  engaged  in  teaching.  It  wras  at  this  time 
that  I  made  the  personal  acquaintance  of  Bro. 
Foote,  who  was  the  Methodist  pastor  of  that 
nourishing  village. 

Our  friends  were  members  of  his  charge  and 
Bro.  Foote  kindly  called  to  see  us  and  before  leav- 
ing invited  me  to  preach  for  his  congregation   on 


OF   MINISTERS   AND    LAYMEN.  189 

Sabbath  morning.  I  told  him  that  I  was  quite  a 
novice  in  the  ministry,  having  only  attempted  to 
preach  a  half-dozen  times.  But  he  insisted  that  I 
should  occup3r  the  pulpit  either  morning  or  evening 
as  might  best  suit  me. 

We  very  soon  agreed  that  he  should  occupy  the 
morning  hour  and  that  I  would  do  my  best  at  the 
night  service. 

I  was  quite  interested  in  his  morning  discourse. 
It  was  evident  that  he  was  a  thinker  of  great 
clearness  and  a  speaker  of  excellent  gifts.  Indeed, 
I  found  that  he  was  in  great  favor  with  his  con- 
gregation, whom  he  was  serving  for  the  second 
3rear. 

In  the  following  years  I  frequently  met  Bro. 
Foote  at  the  Annual  Conference,  a  few  times  at 
camp-meetings,  and  heard  him  from  time  to  time 
preach  admirable  sermons. 

He  was  a  scholarly  man  in  no  ordinary  degree, 
and  especially  was  he  gifted  as  an  expositor  of  the 
Scriptures. 

His  preaching  wras  not  marred  b\'  commonplace 
discussions,  nor  did  he  indulge  in  vapid  declama- 
tion. But  on  some  occasions  he  was  thrillingly 
eloquent  in  his  utterance,  w7hile  voice  and  manner 
both  indicated  profound  spiritual  emotion. 

I  think  he  was  several  times  connected  with  our 
educational  institutions  and  for  some  years  he 
was  the  agent  of  our  orphans'  home,  in  which  de- 
partment of  church  work  he  did  good  service.      I 


190  BIOGEAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

doubt  if  his  health  was  ever  at  any  time  vigorous, 
and  this  was  probably  a  hindrance  to  him 
through  the  greater  portion  of  his  life.  Judge 
John  L.  Hopkins,  who  was  his  neighbor  and  close 
friend  while  Bro.  Foote  was  a  resident  of  Edge- 
wood,  commended  him  to  me  as  a  wise,  sweet- 
spirited  and  deepW  religious  man: 

He  died  in  great  peace  and  left  a  most  interesting 
family,  among  them  Rev.  W.  R.  Foote,  one  of  At- 
lanta's ablest  preachers;  and  the  wife  of  Rev.  R. 
J.  Bigham,  the  present  distinguished  pastor  of 
Trinitv  church. 


ROBERT  M.  LOCKWOOD. 

Wehavebeen  furnished  with  few  details  concern- 
ing the  life  of  this  excellent  minister. 

He  was  a  native  of  Virginia,  but  for  a  number  of 
years  was  engaged  in  business  both  in  New  York 
and  Baltimore,  where  he  was  held  in  high  esteem. 
At  the  close  of  the  civil  war,  he  came  South  and 
was  received  into  the  membership  of  the  South 
Georgia  Conference  probably  in  1866. 

He  enjoyed  a  large  share  of  the  love  and  confi- 
dence of  his  conference  brethren,  whom  he  served 
for  a  series  of  years  as  their  general  Sunday- 
school    agent.     He  besides    occupied    several    im- 


OF   MINISTERS   AND    LAYMEN.  191 

portant  positions  in  the  pastorate.  Amongst 
these  were  Bainbridge,  Brunswick  and  Hawkins- 
ville,  in  all  of  which  places  he  was  greatly  be- 
loved. He  died  several  3'ears  ago,  having 
" served  his  generation  by  the  will  of  God"  alike 
acceptably  and  usefully. 


GEORGE  FOSTER  PIERCE. 

THE    CHRYSOSTOM    OF    THE   CONFERENCE. 

More  than  half  a  century  ago  it  was  a  vexed 
question  in  conference  circles  whether  the  "Old 
Doctor"  or  his  son  "George"  was  the  greater 
preacher.  We  question  if  the  good-natured  con- 
troversy was  at  any  time  definitely  settled  nor 
shall  we  now  undertake  its  final  adjudication. 

Very  much,  indeed,  depends  upon  the  standpoint 
from  which  we  consider  it,  and  hardly  less  upon 
the  definition  of  what  is  meant  by  pulpit  oratory. 

To  illustrate  our  statement,  William  Jay  is  fre- 
quently referred  to  as  the  " Prince  of  Preachers," 
and  3ret  never  at  any  time  did  he  approximate  the 
majestic  sweep  of  Robert  Hall's  imagination  in  his 
grand  sermon  on  "Modern  Infidelity7  Considered." 
You  might  as  well  compare  the  nightingale's  song 
from  some  neighboring  hedgerow  to  the  scream  of 


192  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

an  eagle  as  he  soars  right  onward  to  the  sun,  as  to 
compare  the  father,  when  he  talked  on  Ezekiel's 
Valley  of  Vision,  to  the  son,  when  he  described  the 
Transfiguration  as  portrayed  in  Raphael's  world- 
renowned  masterpiece. 

Not  infrequently  there  wrere  obvious  points  of 
resemblance  in  their  preaching,  but  quite  often  there 
were  striking  points  of  divergence  and  even  dis- 
similarity. 

But  we  forbear  further  allusion  to  this  compara- 
tive estimate  and  speak  of  the  bishop  as  we  heard 
him  in  our  boyhood  during  his  presidency  of  the 
Wesley  an  Female  College. 

Some  business  engagement  brought  him  to 
Hamilton,  Ga.,  where  my  father,  his  old  preceptor 
at  Greensboro,  was  in  charge  of  a  flourishing 
acadenry. 

I  went  with  the  family  to  the  night  service  at 
the  Methodist  church.  I  recall  his  text  from  the 
Book  of  Proverbs,  "Ponder  the  paths  of  thy  feet 
— let  all  thy  ways  be  established."  The  discourse 
was  largely  didactic,  but  there  was  a  rich  vein  of 
eloquence  pervading  it  that  produced  no  small 
stir  in  that   village  congregation. 

The  next  morning  before  resuming  his  journey 
to  Columbus  he  called  to  see  my  mother,  who  was 
his  first  teacher,  and  who  often  said  that  little 
George  Pierce  wras  the  handsomest  and  brightest 
lad  she  had  ever  known  in  her  infant  class. 


I 

OF   MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  193 

From  that  time  on  until  he  had  passed  his 
seventieth  year,  I  heard  him  at  annual  and  dis- 
trict conferences,  always  with  singular  delight 
and  never  without  spiritual  profit. 

No  one  was  more  deserving  than  he  to  be  styled 
the  " silver-tongued  orator."  And  yet  his  sermons 
were  not  alwrays  of  uniform  strength  and 
beauty.  In  a  few  instances,  indeed,  they  were  in 
some  measure  disappointing  to  his  most  ardent 
admirers.  But  if  Homer  was  at  times  allowed  to 
nod,  wh}r  might  not  this  great  man  at  wide  inter- 
vals be  suffered  to  drawl  without  the  penalty  of 
adverse  criticism0  In  the  main  he  was  "in  shape 
and  gesture  proudly  eminent."  His  voice  had,  as 
a  musical  critic  would  say,  a  marvelous  register. 
On  some  occasions  it  thrilled  an  audience  like  the 
staccato  notes  of  a  trumpet,  and  in  another  in- 
stant it  was  soft  as  the  whisper  of  an  angel  in 
the  ear  of  sleeping  childhood. 

In  fine,  his  vocal  apparatus  was  without  a  flaw 
in  its  utterance  until  age  and  disease  had  made 
him  a  physical  wreck. 

It  was  said  of  a  great  poet  that  he  "lisped  in 
numbers,"  and  even  "thought  in  rhyme."  It  might 
be  as  justly  said  of  Bishop  Pierce  that  in  his  best 
estate  he  was   the  incarnation  of  oratory. 

Richard  Malcolm  Johnston,  himself  a  man  of 
splendid  endowments,  has  this  to  say  of  Bishop 
Pierce's  "oratorical  excellence." 

13 


194  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

We  cull  it  from  a  letter  addressed  to  Bishop 
Haygood  which  we  find  in  Dr.  George  Smith's  .ex- 
ellent  volume  on  the  "Life  and  Times  of  Bishop 
Pierce."  "Scores  of  times,"  says  Mr.  Johnston, 
"have  I  heard  him  preach  in  the  little  Methodist 
church  at  Sparta,  and  at  the  camp-meeting  south 
of  the  village  during  a  period  of  twenty  }'ears,  in 
the  which  time  I  have  listened  to  outbursts  of 
oratory  such  as  I  do  not  believe  were  surpassed 
on  the  Bema  of  Athens  or  in  the  Forum  of 
Rome."  This  tributeis  in  no  degree  overwrought, 
as  thousands  of  hearers  in  all  parts  of  the  Republic 
will  testify.  In  a  railway'  conversation  with  Bishop 
Peck,  his  rival  in  the  General  Conference  of  1844, 
he  spoke  of  Bishop  Pierce  in  terms  of  unstinted 
praise  as  an  orator.  But  we  are  minded  to  say, 
not  without  thoughtful  consideration,  that  the 
platform  rather  than  the  pulpit  was  his  throne 
of  power.  Notably  great  as  he  seemed  in  the 
latter,  yet  in  some  of  his  commencement  and  mis- 
sionary addresses  he  was  superlatively  great. 
His  early  college-mate  and  lifelong  friend,  Sena- 
tor Toombs,  was  heard  to  say  that  the  grandest 
effort  of  his  life  was  his  commencement  address 
at  the  University  of  Georgia.  Concerning  that 
address  it  is  related  that  it  was  prepared  in  a 
single  night  after  a  hard  day's  travel. 

But  I  prefer  in  this  connection  to  submit  an 
extract  from  his  great  Bible  speech  in  New  York 
which,  in  one  shape  or  another,  has  almost  made 


OF    MINISTERS    AND    LAYMEN.  195 

the  circuit  of  the  globe.  For  this  I  am  likewise  in- 
debted to  Dr.  George  Smith's  "Life"  of  the  bishop. 
It  was  the  anniversary  of  the  American  Bible 
Society.  Attendance  from  all  parts  of  the  coun- 
try was  exceedingly  large.  In  this  throng  there 
were  representative  men  from  all  the  evangel- 
ical churches,  and  the  consensus  of  opinion  was 
that  young  Dr.  Pierce's  oration  had  never  been 
surpassed  on  that  platform,  if  indeed,  ever  equaled 
in  that  august  presence. 

For  lack  of  space  we  submit  but  two  extracts  as 
samples  of  the  whole  : 

"The  Bible  deals  not  in  subtle  analogies  and 
cold  abstractions,  but  in  the  healthful  virtues  of 
life;  it  comes  home  to  the  heart,  and  makes  its 
truths  the  subject  of  consciousness  whereby  we 
exclaim:  'That  which  was  from  the  beginning, 
which  we  have  heard,  which  we  have  seen  with 
our  eyes,  which  we  have  looked  upon,  and  our 
hands  have  handled,  of  the  Word  of  Life.'  It 
commends  itself  to  every  man's  conscience  in 
the  sight  of  God,  by  the  excellence  of  its  law  and 
the  conclusiveness  of  its  testimony,  so  that  even 
human  depravity  when  it  walks  amid  its  precepts, 
is  compelled,  like  devils  among  the  tombs,  to  ac- 
knowledge the  purity  of  its  morals  and  the  holi- 
ness of  its  presence.  The  genealogy  of  its  proof 
demonstrates  it  to  be  the  same  yesterday,  to-day, 
and  forever.  The  faith  that  justified  righteous 
Abel,  and  whereby  Enoch   walked   with   God,  the 


196  BIOGRAPHIC   ETCHINGS 

faith  by  which  Abraham  kept  the  covenant,  the 
importunity  by  which  Moses  prevailed,  and  the 
penitential  sighs  of  David,  still  attract  the  notice 
of  heaven,  and  call  down  the  blessing  of  God.  The 
baptism  of  the  Spirit  still  attends  on  the  minis- 
tration of  the  Word ;  and  though  no  cloven 
tongues  of  fire  flame  from  the  lips  of  proselytes, 
the  heart  still  palpitates  beneath  the  warm  breath- 
ings of  the  Holy  Ghost,  before  whose  stately  step- 
pings  the  human  reason  falls  in  reverence,  and  the 
human  fancv  cowers  in  astonishment. 


"It  is  the  sin  of  the  nations  and  the  curse  of  the 
church  that  we  have  never  properly  appreciated 
the  Bible  as  we  ought.  It  is  the  book  of  books  for 
the  priest  and  for  the  people,  for  the  old  and  for 
the  young.  It  should  be  the  tenant  of  the  academy 
as  well  as  of  the  nursery,  and  ought  to  be  incor- 
porated in  our  course  of  education,  from  the 
mother's  knee  to  graduation  in  the  highest  univer- 
sities in  the  land.  Everything  is  destined  to  fail 
unless  the  Bible  be  the  fulcrum  on  which  these 
laws  revolve.  Can  such  a  book  be  read  without 
an  influence  commensurate  with  its  importance? 
As  well  might  the  flowers  sleep  when  the  spring 
winds  its  mellow  horn  to  call  them  from  their  bed  ; 
as  well  might  the  mist  linger  upon  the  bosom  of 
the  lake  when  the  sun  beckons  it  to  leave  its  dewy 


OF   MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  197 

home.  The  Bible  plants  our  feet  amid  that  angel 
group  which  stood  with  eager  wing  expectant 
when  the  Spirit  of  God  first  hovered  over  the  ab}7ss 
of  chaos  and  wraps  us  in  praise  for  the  newborn 
world  when  the  morning  stars  sang  together  for 
joy.  The  Bible  builds  for  us  the  world  when  we 
were  not ;  stretches  our  conceptions  of  the  infinite 
beyond  the  last  orbit  of  astronomy;  pacifies  the 
moral  discord  of  earth;  reorganizes  the  dust  of  the 
sepulchre,  and  tells  man  heaven  is  his  home  and 
eternity  his  lifetime. 

"What,  sir,  was  the  Reformation,  but  a  resur- 
rection of  the  Bible?  Cloistered  in  the  supersti- 
tion of  mediaeval  Rome  for  a  thousand  years, 
its  moral  rays  had  been  intercepted,  and  the  intel- 
lect of  man,  stricken  at  a  blow  from  its  pride  of 
place,  was  shut  within  the  dark  walls  of  moral 
despair,  and  slept  the  sleep  of  death  beneath  its 
wizard  spell.  Opinion  fled  from  the  chambers  of 
the  heart,  and  left  the  mind  to  darkness  and  to 
change.  But  Luther  evoked  the  Bible  and  its  pre- 
cepts from  its  prison-house,  and  the  Word  of  God 
breathed  the  warm  breath  of  life  upon  the  Valley 
of  Vision,  and  upon  the  sleeping  Lethean  sea.  In- 
tellect burst  from  the  trance  of  ages,  dashed  aside 
the  portals  of  her  dark  dungeon,  felt  the  warm 
sunlight  relax  her  stiffened  limbs,  forged  her  fet- 
ters into  swords,  and  fought  her  way  to  freedom 
and  to  fame. 


198  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

"The  Bible,  sir,  is  the  guide  of  the  erring,  and 
the  reclaimer  of  the  wandering;  it  heals  the  sick, 
consoles  the  dying,  and  purines  the  living.  If  you 
would  propagate  Protestantism,  circulate  the 
Bible.  Let  the  master  give  it  to  the  pupil,  the 
professor  to  his  class,  the  father  to  his  son,  the 
mother  to  her  daughter,  place  it  in  every  home  in 
the  land ;  then  shall  the  love  of  God  cover  the 
earth,  and  the  light  of  salvation  overlay  the  land, 
as  the  sunbeams  of  morning  lie  upon  the  moun- 
tains." 

The  enthusiasm  aroused  by  the  speech  was  im- 
mense. Dr.  Jefferson  Hamilton  was  sitting  by 
Dr.  Lovick  Pierce,  and,  carried  awayby  his  excite- 
ment, he  said  eagerly  to  the  doctor:  "Did  you 
ever  hear  the  like?"  "Yes,"  said  the  fond  father, 
complacently,   "I  hear  George  often." 

Speaking,  however,  not  only  for  myself  but  for 
hundreds  besides,  lam  inclined  to  think  that  never 
on  amr  occasion  was  he  more  eloquent  than  in  his 
missionary  address  at  Wesley  Chapel,  Atlanta, 
during  the  Annual  Conference  of  1861. 

Dr.  McFerrin,  of  Nashville,  who  preceded  him, 
was  in  his  happiest  mood.  His  account  of  his 
preaching  long  years  agone  amongst  the  Cherokee 
Indians  and  of  the  conversions  that  often  followed 
was  strangely  beautiful.  Not  a  few  of  his  pas- 
sages were  as  graphic  as  if  he  wielded  for  the  time 
the  pen  of  Macaulay  or  the  pencil  of  Rubens. 
At  intervals  the  rafters  of  the  old  church  fairly  vi- 


OF    MINISTERS   AND    LAYMEN.  199 

brated  with  the  hallelujahs  of  his  enraptured 
audience.  This  was  particularly  the  case  when  he 
interspersed  his  address  with  his  Indian  songs  so 
wildly  plaintive  that  they  resembled  the  soft  yet 
weird  notes  of  a  wind-harp  when  swept  by  the 
fingers  of  an  evening  zephyr.  When  McFerrin 
resumed  his  seat  and  Bishop  Pierce  arose  to  speak 
many  feared  that  he  might  not  fully  meet  public 
expectation.  But  his  first  utterances  showed  that 
his  foot  was  on  ''his  native  heath"  and  instantly 
electrified  his  eager  hearers.  At  a  single  glance  of 
his  eagle  eye  he  swept  the  whole  extent  of  the 
missionary  field — 

"From  Greenland's  icy  mountains 
To  India's  coral  strand." 

His  glowing  tribute  to  Bishop  Coke,  who  gave 
his  large  fortune  and  sacrificed  his  noble  life  to  the 
establishment  of  Methodist  missions  in  the  far 
east — his  allusions  to  Judson,  who  planted  Chris- 
tianity in  Birmah,  where  it  spread  until  it  well- 
nigh  became  a  state  religion — to  Carey,  who 
wrought  twenty  years  for  a  single  convert  on  the 
shores  of  China — likewise  his  thrilling  references  to 
Henry  Martyn,  who  abandoned  the  promise  of 
high  ecclesiastical  preferment  in  the  Church  of 
England  to  die  on  the  wayside  of  Persia,  the 
ancient  home  of  the  Fire  worshippers — nor  least 
of  all  forgetful  of  Reginald  Heber,  whose  beautiful 


200  BIOGRAPHIC     ETCHINGS 

hymn  has  become  the  Marsellaise  of  the  mission- 
ary enterprise  in  all  parts  of  the  heathen  world — 
these,  one  and.  all,  were  delivered  in  his  best  style. 
But  when  in  conclusion  he  came  to  depict  the  gather- 
ing of  the  scattered  tribes  of  Israel  to  Mount  Zion, 
the  rebuilding  of  Solomon's  temple  on  the  site  of  the 
Mosque  of  Omar,  the  enthusiasm  of  his  listeners 
knew  no  bounds,  but  broke  forth  in  sobs  and  shout- 
ings that  in  no  small  degree  recalled  the  scenes  of 
Pentecost  with  its  sound  of  a  rushing  wind  and 
its  glow  of  cloven  tongues  of  fire.  The  bishop  at 
the  close  of  the  doxology  was  overwhelmed  with 
congratulations.  From  that  memorable  night  on- 
ward there  were  "Episcopal  Journeyings"  stretch- 
ing through  nearly  thirt}r  years  of  arduous  toil 
and  dangerous  travel  and  then  the  golden  wedding 
with  its  hallowed  memories  and  its  social  festivi- 
ties in  which  prayer  and  praise  were  a  conspicuous 
feature. 

But  last  scene  of  all  that  ends  this  eventful  his- 
tory, the  death  chamber  where  the  bishop  put  on 
his  ascension  robes,  meanwhile  saying  to  his  two 
brothers,  James  and  Thomas,  "I  am  so  happy." 
Soon  thereafter  followed  the  funeral  dirge  in  the 
village  church  and  the  eloquent  funeral  discourse 
of  Bishop  Haygood  on  the  appropriate  text,  "No 
man  liveth  to  himself  nor  dieth  to  himself."  We 
are  constrained  to  say  that  this  statement  or 
sentiment,  which  ever  we  may  choose  to  call  it, 
and  indeed  it  is   partly  both,  applies   well   to   this 


OF   MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  201 

Christian  bishop  whom  we  have  likened    to    the 
"golden-mouthed  orator  of  Byzantium." 

It  might  not  be  altogether  the  proper  thing  to 
speak  of  him  as  has  been  so  often  said  of  the 
First  Napoleon,  that  he  wasthe"man  of  destiny." 
We  rather  prefer  to  speak  of  him  as  the  man  of 
Providence.  Perhaps  no  man  in  all  Georgia  has 
done  so  much  to  carry  forward  Methodism  to  its 
present  pre-eminence.  He  was  well-fitted  to  enlarge 
and  perpetuate  the  work  so  auspiciously  begun 
under  the  joint  leadership  of  Andrew  and  Hull 
and  Lovick  and  Reddick  Pierce  and  Capers  and 
others  of  the  old  South  Carolina  Conference. 
We  verily  believe  that  God  called  and  endowed 
him  for  this  special  service.  Call  it  fancy  if  you 
will,  but  we  are  of  that  number  who  accept  the 
philosophy  of  the  great  poet : 

"For  never  an  age  when  God  has  need  of  him 
Shall  want  its  man  predestined  by  that  need. 

To  pour  his  life  in  fiery  word  or  deed, 
The  strong  archangel  of  the  Elohim. 

Earth's  hollow  want  is  prophet  of  his  coming." 


SOME  NOTED 
METHODIST  LAYMEN, 


SOME  NOTED 
METHODIST   LAYMEN. 

COL.  JAMES  M.  CHAMBERS. 

Having  completed  my  series  of  " Biographic 
Etchings  of  Ministers,"  I  propose  now  to  write  a 
supplementary  series  on  some  of  the  old-time  lay- 
men of  the  Georgia  conferences.  One  of  the  best 
of  these  was  Col.  James  M.  Chambers,  of  Co- 
lumbus. 

I  met  him  first  in  1855,  and  very  soon  learned 
to  love  and  admire  him.  He  occupied  a  splendid 
residence  in  Wynnton,  a  suburban  annex  to  the 
Falls  City. 

On  several  occasions  I  enjoyed  the  elegant  hospi- 
tal^ of  himself  and  his  charming  household. 
Col.  Chambers  had  an  imposing  physique,  sugges- 
tive of  the  Virginians,  of  whom  Thackeray  has 
drawn  such  a  striking  picture  in  one  of  his  most 
popular  novels. 

He  was  evidently  of  patrician  blood,  and  yet  he 
had  none  of  the  class  prejudice  of  Coriolanus,  who 
loathed  with  such  unspeakable  disgust  the  plebs 
of  the  seven-hilled  city.  On  the  contrary,  he  was 
Chesterfieldian  in  his  bearing  to  the  rich  and  poor, 
and  seemed  especially   polite  toward   such   godly 


206  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

women  as  Sis  terHillyer,  who  were  poor  in  worldly 
gear  but  rich  in  faith.  Several  of  these  were 
weekly  attendants  on  his  class-meeting,  which  for 
many  years  was  a  powerful  auxiliary  to  St.  Luke's 
church. 

Col.  Chambers  was  a  model  churchgoer,  and 
it  was  a  very  wet  or  cold  day  when  he  was  absent 
from  his  class-room  or  from  his  seat  in  the  sanc- 
tuary directly  in  front  of  the  preacher. 

I  remember  on  one  occasion  that  Dr.  Pierce 
preached  in  my  stead  at  the  morning  service.  He 
began  by  saying  that  he  proposed  to  preach  in  a 
more  discursive  style  than  was  his  habit.  It  was  a 
wonderful  discourse.  At  the  close  of  the  service 
Brother  Chambers  took  me  aside  and  whispered 
in  my  ear :  "Please  tell  the  doctor  for  me  that  I  like 
his  discursive  style  best  of  all."  At  a  proper  time 
we  communicated  the  message,  which  the  old 
doctor  greatly  enjoyed,  coming,  as  he  said,  from 
a  grand  Methodist  layman. 

Col.  Chambers  did  not  relish  a  "free"  gospel,  but 
for  those  early  days  was  a  liberal  supporter  of  the 
ministry.  I  think  it  was  his  custom  to  assess 
himself  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  annually 
for  that  special  purpose. 

He  was  a  prominent  advocate  of  family  religion, 
and  never  neglected  the  daily  sacrifice  at  his  fire- 
side altar.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  he 
had  the  gift  of  prayer  in  a  large  measure.  He 
died  as  he  lived,  being  st  ong  in  the  faith  and 
giving  glory  to^God. 


OF   MINISTERS    AND    LAYMEN.  207 


HON.  T.  M.  FURLOW. 

When  I  was  stationed  in  Americus,  in  1858-59, 
Hon.  T.  M.  Furlow  was  the  leading  steward  of 
that  excellent  pastoral  charge.  He  was  a  wealthy 
planter  and  contributed  largely  of  his  ample  means 
to  the  support  of  every  interest  of  the  church. 
His  beautiful  home  had  its  "prophet  chamber,"  and 
he  and  his  excellent  wife  dispensed  a  full-handed 
hospitality  to  their  numerous  guests. 

In  the  great  revival  of  1858  he  renewed,  as  he 
told  me,  his  consecration  to  God,  and  notwith- 
standing his  fortune  was  wrecked  by  the  war,  he 
remained  steadfast  in  his  loyalty  to  the  church. 

He  was  several  times  a  representative  of  his 
county  in  the  State  legislature,  and  at  one  time 
was  a  candidate  for  governor,  but  was  defeated  in 
the  contest.  He  was  reluctant  to  take  part  in 
the  public  exercises  of  the  sanctuary,  but  would  do 
so  on  the  call  of  his  pastor.  He  usually  led  the 
singing  of  the  congregation,  and  on  a  few  occa- 
sions he  conducted  the  prajer-meeting,  but  usually 
he  shrank  from  prominence  in  these  distinctively 
devotional  services. 

He  was  deeply  interested  in  Sabbath-school 
work,  and  was  seldom  absent  from  his  post  of 
duty. 

The  closing  years  of  Brother  Furlow's  life 
were  shadowed  by  severe  physical  suifering.     It  is 


208  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

sad  to  think  that  one  who  had  done  so  much  for 
the  alleviation  of  human  suffering  should  himself 
be  a  chronic  sufferer  and  actually  pass  away  under 
the  surgeon's  knife.  But  his  departure,  though 
sudden,  was  peaceful  and  happy. 


JOSEPH  WINSHIP. 

Joseph  Winship  was  a  native  of  Massachusetts, 

but  came  South  in ,  settling  first  at  Clinton,  in 

Jones  county.  There  he  established  a  gin  factory 
and  laid  the  foundation  of    his   worldly   fortune. 

At  a  later  period,  about  1848,  he  came  to  At- 
lanta, then  in  its  infancy  and  projected  a  manufac- 
turing enterprise  which  has  gradually  developed 
into  the  present  immense  plant  of  the  Winship  Ma- 
chine works,  under  the  joint  ownership  of  his  two 
sons,  Messrs.  George  and  Robert  Winship,  whose 
business  now  covers  no  small  part  of  the  South- 
ern States. 

"Uncle  Joe,"  as  he  was  familiarly  known,  was 
thoroughly  Methodistic  in  his  religious  tastes  and 
habitudes,  and  not  less  thorough  in  the  cleanness 
of  his  business  methods.  Nobody  that  knew  him 
ever  questioned  his  personal  integrity,  for  his  word 
was  in  any  market  as  good  as  his  bond. 


OF    MINISTERS    AND    LAYMEN.  209 

In  the  run  of  a  dozen  years  he  accumulated  a 
snug  fortune,  but  he  suffered  serious  financial 
losses  by  the  disasters  of  the  civil  war.  He  came 
out  of  the  furnace,  however,  with  unsullied  honor 
and  unimpaired  credit,  and  although  he  had  long 
passed  the  meridian  of  life,  he  resumed  his  work 
with  undiminished  energy. 

As  to  his  churchmanship,  which  was  the  best 
side  of  his  life  and  character,  it  was  never  shaken 
by  these  reverses.  One  of  his  noblest  traits  was 
his  steadfastness  of  aim  in  matters  alike  temporal 
and  spiritual. 

Few  of  the  pioneer  citizens  of  Atlanta  did  more 
to  build  up  not  only  Methodism  but  Christianity, 
in  the  city  than  Joseph  Winship.  His  contribu- 
tions to  church  enterprises  in  all  parts  of  the  city 
and  amongst  all  denominations  were  generous  in 
proportion  to  his  ability. 

In  his  attendance  on  the  church  he  was  both  uni- 
form and  prompt.  He  did  not  like  to  be  conspicu- 
ous, but  when  duty  required  it  he  never  faltered. 

He  was  a  man  of  excellent  practical  sense  and 
his  judgment  was  rarely  at  fault,  whether  in  re- 
gard to  men  or  measures. 

We  have  alluded  to  his  Northern  birth,  but  his 
fidelity  to  the  South  all  through  the  war  and 
through  the  reconstruction  period  which  followed, 
was  unwavering.  In  this  respect  he  was  like  his 
younger  brother,  Mr.  Isaac  Winship,  who  was 
likewise  faithful  to  his  adopted    section.     Both 

14 


210  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

these  brothers  were  amongst  Atlanta's  worthiest 
citizens  and  were  staunch  pillars  in  the  structure 
of  Atlanta  Methodism . 


H.  V.  M.  MILLER,  LL.  D., 

"THE    DEMOSTHENES   OF   THE   MOUNTAINS." 

Few  men  in  Georgia  are  so  widely  known  or  so 
generally  admired  as  the  distinguished  subject  of 
this  biographical  sketch.  His  days  are  now  in  the 
sere  and  yello  w  Jleaf ,  he  ha  ving  passed  the  four-score 
years  of  the  Hebrew  psalmist,  and  }?et  he  seems 
in  the  main  to  be  hale  and  hearty,  with  a  buoy- 
ancy of  spirits  and  a  capacity,  whether  for  labor  or 
endurance,  that  not  many  men  retain  who  have 
barely  passed  the  sixtieth  milestone  in  the  journey 
of  life. 

Dr.  Miller  is  a  native  of  South  Carolina,  and  was 
born  near  the  present  town  of  Walhalla,  April, 
1814. 

His  ancestors  in  the  paternal  line,  were  staunch 
whigs  of  the  revolutionary  period,  one  of  his  grand- 
uncles  having  fallen  in  the  battle  of  the  Cowpens. 

Andrew  Miller,  his  father,  commanded  a  com- 
pany in  the  second  British  war,  being  attached  to 
the  regiment  of  Colonel  Homer  Virgil   Milton,   a 


OF    MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  211 

gallant  officer,  from  whom  our  subject  derives  his 
unwieldy  prenomen. 

Andrew  Miller  was  a  man  of  fair  education,  but 
a  farmer  by  taste  and  practice.  He  removed  from 
South  Carolina  to  Tennessee  valley,  in  Rabun 
county,  Georgia,  when  his  distinguished  son  was 
only  five  years  old.  In  that  sequestered  region,  far 
away  from  the  centers  of  commerce  and  advanced 
civilization,  young  Miller  grew  up  to  manhood. 
The  school  advantages  of  this  rural  section  were 
exceedingly  limited,  but  the  future  orator  and 
medical  scientist  was  blessed  with  a  mother  (nee 
Miss  Cheri)  of  Huguenotic  descent,  and  besides  a 
woman  of  liberal  culture.  This  mother,  who  was 
a  Virginian  by  birth,  devoted  much  of  her  time  to 
the  education  of  her  son,  and  to  her  he  was  in- 
debted for  a  thorough  training  in  the  rudiments 
of  the  English  language.  In  the  absence  of  public 
school  facilities,  his  father  employed  a  Mr.  Mc- 
Mullen,  a  graduate  of  the  University  of  Dublin,  to 
take  charge  of  the  higher  education  of  his  two 
boys,  of  whom  Homer  was  the  younger.  He  was, 
as  might  well  be  supposed,  a  bright  lad,  who  made 
rapid  strides  in  his  studies,  and  at  an  early  age  had 
mastered  the  usual  academic  course  in  Greek, 
Latin  and  mathematics.  Like  a  majority,  how- 
ever, of  really  great  men,  he  was  in  a  large  meas- 
ure self-educated. 

Having  access   to  his  father's  well-selected  li 
brary,  he  devoured  with  avidity  very  many  of  the 


212  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

English  classics,  and  acquired  thereby  a  style  of 
writing  and  speaking  which  in  after  life  has  been 
characterized  by  force  and  elegance.  Shakespeare 
and  the  English  Bible  were  especial  favorites  and 
from  the  world's  great  dramatist,  and  King 
James'  version,  and  we  may  add  from  the  moun- 
tain peaks,  notably ''Pickens'  Nose,"  that  towered 
above  his  valley  home,  he  drew  much  of  that  in- 
spiration which  enabled  him  at  a  later  period  to 
sway  the  stormiest  popular  assemblies,  and  won 
for  him  the  well-deserved  title,  "The  Demosthenes 
of  the  Mountains." 

But  we  anticipate.  When  Dr.  Miller  was  a  boy 
a  party  of  United  States  officers  sojourned  for  a 
time  at  his  father's  house. 

This  party  consisted  of  Captain  Bache,  after- 
wards connected  with  the  coast  survey,  Lieuten- 
ant Pleasanton,  distinguished  during  the  late  civil 
war  as  a  cavalrv  commander,  and  Lieutenant 
Wragg,  a  grandson  of  Benjamin  Franklin. 

These  officers  were  sent  out  by  the  Federal  gov- 
ernment to  survey  a  canal  route  to  unite  the  wa. 
ters  of  the  Tennessee  and  the  Savannah.  Like  the 
Cumberland  mountain  road  and  other  similar  en- 
terprises, it  was  designed  to  establish  better  social 
and  commercial  relations  between  the  Atlantic 
slope  and  thetrans-Alleghany  department.  There 
existed  ihen,  partly  because  of  the  political  in- 
trigues of  Aaron  Burr  and  General  Wilkinson,  a 
lively  and  perhaps  reasonable  apprehension  that 


OF   MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  213 

these  two  great  divisions  of  the  national  territory 
would  drift  apart  to  such  a  degree  that  in  some 
unlooked-for  political  convulsion  there  might  be 
territorial  dismemberment.  That,  indeed,  in  the 
early  years  of  the  present  centur\r,  was  a  sectional 
issue  searceh^  less  patent  and  alarming  than  that 
other  issue  which  afterwards  disrupted  the  Federal 
union. 

Nothing  practical  ever  came  of  this  proposed 
survey,  but  the  same  object  has  since  been  sought 
to  be  accomplished  b\r  the  construction  of  the  Ra- 
bun Gap  railroad. 

During  the  stay   of  these   army   officers   at  the 
elder  Miller's  house,  they  were  struck  by  the  brill- 
iancy of  his  younger  son,  and  plied  the  father  with 
earnest  entreaties  that  when  of  a  suitable  age  he 
would   send   his  son  to  West  Point  for  a  military 
training.    The  suggestion  was  not  unpleasant  to 
either  father  or  son,  and  for  some  months  was   a 
topic  of  fireside  discussion  with   the  famih'.     But 
the  lad,  not  a  great  while  thereafter,  was  thrown 
from  his  horse,  sustaining  a  severe  fracture  of  the 
thigh,  disabling  him  for  a  military  career.     Hence- 
forth the  thought  of  West   Point  was   dismissed 
and  young  Miller  turned  his  aims  and  aspirations 
towards  the  medical  profession.    In  carrying  out 
this  purpose  he  entered  the  office  of  Dr.  Thomas 
Hamilton,  a  resident  of  Troup   county,   and   fifty 
years  ago  one  of  the  most  eminent  physicians  of 
Georgia.     In  1835,  after  the  usual  attendance  on 


214  BIOGRAPHIC     ETCHINGS 

lectures,  he  graduated  at  the  medical  college  of 
Charleston,  S.  C.  He  was  a  first-honor  man  and 
also  won  a  prize  for  the  best  English  thesis.  His 
subject  was  Clwlosis,  and  he  defeated  not  less  than 
seven  contestants.  At  the  commencement  exer- 
cises, the  young  doctor  was  booked  for  a  reply  to 
the  presentation  speech  of  Professor  Moultrie,  who 
awarded  the  prize  on  behalf  of  the  college  faculty. 
In  this,  his  first  appearance  as  a  platform  speaker, 
he  brought  down  the  house  by  his  wit  and  elo- 
quence. After  graduation,  he  located  at  Cassville, 
Ga.,  a  thriving  up-country  town,  and  subsequently 
married  Miss  Harriet  Clark,  a  niece  of  Hon.  John 
W.  Hooper,  the  judge  of  the  Cherokee  circuit. 
This  wife  of  his  youth  not  long  ago  passed  away, 
but  sacred  memories  of  her  devotion  yet  abide 
to  brighten  and  bless  the  evening  of  his  useful  life. 

In  order,  however,  to  finish  his  professional  edu- 
cation, Dr.  Miller  spent  two  years  (1837  and  1838) 
in  Europe,  chiefly  in  Paris.  Here  he  enjoyed  the 
lectures  and  attended  the  clinics  of  such  medical 
savants  as  Velpeau,  Ricord,  Neliton  and  others  of 
only  less  distinction. 

While  reading  in  Paris  he  acquired  the  French 
language  which  he  still  speaks  with  readiness  and 
correctness.  At  the  same  time  he  gave  consider- 
able attention  to  the  best  French  literature. 

Returning  to  his  home  in  Cassville,  Ga.,  he  very 
soon  secured  a  large  and  lucrative  practice.  Such, 
indeed,  was  his    professional  reputation  that    in 


OF   MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  215 

1847,  when  but  thirty -three  years  of  age,  he  was 
elected  to  the  chair  of  obstetrics  in  the  medical 
college  at  Memphis,  Tennessee.  Here  he  served 
with  success  for  three  years,  when  he  met  with 
the  saddest  bereavement  of  his  life — the  death  of 
his  daughter,  little  FI037,  a  sweet  promising  child 
of  ten  3^ears.  This  domestic  sorrow  led  to  the  res- 
ignation of  his  professorship  at  Memphis.  In  the 
following  year  he  accepted  the  chair  of  physiology 
and  pathological  anatomy  in  the  Medical  College 
of  Georgia,  at  Augusta.  This  connection  was  con- 
tinued sixteen  years,  until  his  removal  from  Rome 
to  Atlanta  in  1867.  Since  coming  to  Atlanta  he 
has  been  a  professor  in  the  Atlanta  Medical  Col- 
lege, and  much  of  the  time  an  editor  of  the  Atlanta 
Medical  Journal.  As  a  lecturer  on  almost  any 
branch  of  medicine  or  surgery,  it  may  be  questioned 
if  he  has  a  superior  on  the  American  continent. 
He  has  contributed  at  wide  intervals  to  the  press, 
medical  and  political,  but  his  writings  have  been 
mainly  of  a  fugitive  sort,  whether  the  result  of 
modtsty  or  mental  indolence,  as  some  have  sur- 
mised, we  shall  not  undertake  to  decide.  This 
writer,  who  has  known  him  for  nearly  half  a  cen- 
tury, has  more  than  once  gently  chided  him  for 
the  failure  to  discharge  a  duty  which  a  great 
English  jurist  declared  that  every  man  owed  to 
his  profession.  To  this  soft  impeachment  he  has 
almost  uniformly  replied  :  "I  never  wrote  but  one 
book  of  about  200  manuscript  pages,   and   a  pet 


216  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

dog  seized  it  and  dragged  it  through  the  mud  until 
it  was  illegible,  and  that  was  the  beginning  and 
end  of  my  authorship."  There  is  another  aspect 
of  Dr.  Miller's  life-work,  which  is  by  no  means  less 
interesting  than  that  which  we  have  just  con- 
sidered. 

From  the  outset  of  his  public  career,  even  if  not 
at  an  earlier  period,  he  had  a  decided  taste  for 
politics.  Andrew  Miller,  his  father,  while  a  thrifty 
planter,  was  likewise  a  politician.  He  was  at 
least  of  sufficient  prominence  to  be  placed  on  the 
whig  electoral  ticket  in  the  Harrison  campaign  of 
1840,  as  one  of  the  electors  for  the  State  at  large- 
It  was  not  strange  that  his  son  should  have  a  bias 
in  the  same  direction.  As  early  as  1844,  Dr. 
Miller,  then  thirty  years  of  age,  received  the  whig 
nomination  for  congress  in  the  old  Fifth  district. 
He  was  selected  because  of  his  ability  to  lead  a  for- 
lorn hope,  the  Fifth  being  the  Gibraltar  of  the 
democracy. 

Hon.  John  H.  Lumpkin,  his  opponent,  was  a  gen- 
tleman of  unblemished  private  character,  of  fair 
scholarship  and  a  political  tactician  of  no  mean 
ability.  At  the  same  time,  like  George  Washington 
and  other  worthies,  he  was  troubled  with  "an  inade- 
quacy of  speech"  that  rendered  him  utterly  help- 
less on  the  hustings,  when  confronted  by  such  an 
antagonist  as  Miller. 

A  great  many  very  laughable  things  are  still  told 
hy  the  older    residents    of    the    district,    of    that 


OF   MINISTERS    AND   LAYMEN. 


217 


memorable  campaign.  Miller  was  thoroughly 
equipped  for  the  fray.  His  resources,  whether  of 
sober  history  or  sparkling  anecdote ;  wThether  of 
overwhelming  argument  or  thrilling  appeal,  were 
seemingly  inexhaustible.  He  kept  country  and 
towrn,  from  the  Tennessee  line  to  the  Chatta- 
hoochee river,  in  a  roar  of  laughter  at  the  expense 
of  his  opponent.  On  other  occasions  he  made 
his  mountain  audiences  stare  with  wonder  and 
shout  themselves  hoarse  writh  thunderous  applause 
as  he  achieved  those  sunward  flights  of  oratory 
that  w^ere  not  unworthy  of  Sergeant  S.  Prentiss 
in  his  palmiest  days.  Hitherto  Miller's  fame  as  an 
orator  had  been  provincial — confined  to  village  de- 
bating societies  or  count}'  conventions — but  when 
he  stepped  on  a  broader  arena  it  soon  became  state- 
wide, and  in  some  degree,  national  in  its  extent. 
Very  naturally,  comparisons  were  instituted  be- 
tween Miller  and  his  wThig  contemporaries,  Toombs 
and  Stephens,  and  such  comparisons  wrere  rarely 
to  his  disadvantage.  Having  had  some  knowledge 
of  all  of  them,  I  am  free  to  say  that  whilst  intone 
and  gesture  and  majestic  statue,  Toombs  wras 
grandly  pre-eminent,  and  whilst  Stephens  was  un- 
equaled  in  incisiveness  of  speech  and  forceful- 
ness  of  appeal,  yet  it  is  no  injustice  to  the  dead 
tribune  or  the  dead  commoner  to  say  that  the 
oratory  of  Miller,  when  at  his  best,  wras  more 
magnetic  than  that  of  either,  or  both  of  them. 
Perhaps  it  was  Sir  James  Mcintosh  who  said  of 


218  BIOGRAPHIC   ETCHINGS 

Charles  James  Fox,  that  he  was  more  Demosthe- 
nian  than  any  orator  since  Demosthenes.  In  his 
prime  Miller  belonged  to  the  school  of  Fox  as  a 
popular  orator.  It  is  a  significant  fact  that  the 
democratic  party  adjudged  it  necessary  to  rein- 
force their  greatly  badgered  and  closely  beleagured 
candidate  in  their  strongest  democratic  district. 

Among  the  able  debaters  sent  to  the  rescue  was 
Walter  T.  Colquitt,  who  crossed  swords  with 
Miller  on  divers  occasions.  At  such  times  it  was  a 
battle  of  giants.  Colquitt,  we  believe,  was  the 
first  to  christen  his  opponent  "the  Demosthenes  of 
the  Mountains."  In  reply  to  Colquitt's  story  of 
the  "Texas  Filly,"  which  alwa3'S  produced  yells  of 
laughter,  Miller  charged  that  both  Lumpkin  and 
Colquitt  deserved  a  vote  of  censure  for  neglecting 
to  introduce  a  bill  for  the  admission  of  Texas  in 
the  usual  way.  He  alleged  that  the  proposed  plan 
of  admitting  Texas  by  treaty  was  clearly  uncon- 
stitutional. This  scheme  for  the  annexation  of 
Texas,  first  suggested  by  Miller,  was  the  plan  ul- 
timately adopted  by  the  Polk  administration. 

Of  course,  the  contest  between  Lumpkin  and 
Miller  could  have  but  one  issue.  The  former  en- 
tered the  fight,  backed  by  a  party  ma  jorit\r  of  nearly 
four  thousand — but  that  majority  was  greatly  re- 
duced at  the  next  October  election.  It  is  barely 
probable  that  but  for  the  annexation  plank  in  the 
democratic  platform,  even  that  reduced  majority 
might  have  been  wiped  out,  and  political  gravita- 


OF    MINISTERS   AND    LAYMEN.  219 

tion  turned  the  other  way  in  that  ancient  demo- 
cratic stronghold. 

At  an}T  rate,  Miller  was  overwhelmed  with  con- 
gratulations and  crowned  with  laurels. 

Henceforth  he  was  a  principal  figure  in  all  the 
State  campaigns.  He  canvassed  actively  for  Gor- 
don in  his  contest  with  Bullock,  and  we  have  rea- 
son to  know  that  our  former  noble  governor 
highly  appreciated  his  able  and  valiant  services. 

In  1868,  Dr.  Miller,  along  with  Flynn,  Angier, 
and  Dunning,  was  elected  from  Fulton  to  the  con- 
stitutional convention  of  that  3-ear.  In  thatbod}% 
ably  assisted  by  Trammell,  Waddell,  and  many 
others,  he  rendered  invaluable  service  to  the  com- 
monwealth. This  he  did  chiefly  by  keeping  under 
restraint  the  sans-culottic  elements,  as  well  as  the 
aggressive  doctrinaires  who  were  for  the  time  be- 
ing in  the  ascendancy.  The  result  was  that  the 
constitution  then  framed  and  subsequently  adopted 
required  very  little  correction  or  amendment  in 
1877.  The  same  year  (1868)  there  were  two  sena- 
torial vacancies  at  Washington  that  needed  to  be 
filled  by  the  legislature.  Miller,  without  the  usual 
buttonholing  and  lobbying  of  the  demagogue , 
was  nominated  by  the  democratic  minority  of  the 
legislature  for  the  short  term.  E.  F.  Blodgett was 
nominated  hy  the  opposition.  At  the  same  time 
ex-Governor  Brown  was  nominated  by  the  repub- 
licans for  the  long  term.  Hon.  Joshua  Hill  be- 
came an  independent  candidate  for  the  saine  posi- 


220  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

tion.  Miller  was  elected  on  the  second  ballot  by  a 
handsome  majority,  receiving  the  democratic 
strength,  a  considerable  portion  of  the  conserva- 
tive republicans,  and  a  single  vote  from  the  colored 
contingent. 

Brown  was  defeated  by  a  very  small  majority, 
and  Miller  and  Hill  were  granted  the  executive 
credentials. 

Meanwhile,  congress  adjourned,  and  no  oppor. 
tunitv  was  afforded  the  newlv-elected  senators  to 
present  their  credentials  until  the  following  De- 
cember. 

During  this  interval  the  Georgia  legislature  ex- 
pelled the  colored  brother,  and  this  quite  naturally 
raised  a  howl  of  indignation  throughout  the  North. 
As  a  consequence,  the  credentials  of  both  Miller 
and  Hill  were  lodged  for  a  long  time  in  the  com- 
mittee room. 

A  new  reconstruction  scheme  was  inaugurated. 
A.  L.  Harris,  a  fresh  importation  from  Ohio,  was 
designated  to  reorganize  the  legislative  depart- 
ment of  the  government.  He  proceeded  to  rein- 
state the  negroes,  and  at  the  same  time  to  remove 
obnoxious  democrats.  After  this  the  legislature 
elected  another  pair  of  senators — H.  P.  Farrow 
and  Richard  H.  Whitely.  In  the  end,  however, 
Miller  and  Hill  were  admitted,  the  latter,  -who  was 
a  thorough  republican,  after  a  few  months  delay, 
the  former  an  avowed  democrat  only  seven  days 
before  the  expiration  of  the  term  for  which  he  had 


OF    MINISTERS    AND    LAYMEN.  221 

been  chosen.  When  sworn  in,  Miller  was  the  only 
Southern  democrat  in  that  august  body.  During 
his  protracted  stay  in  Washington,  Dr.  Miller  had 
secured  the  personal  friendship  of  the  leading  re- 
publican senators,  and  as  no  partisan  purpose 
could  be  subserved  by  his  longer  exclusion,  the  ma- 
jority voted  to  seat  him  at  the  eleventh  hour.  He 
made  not  a  single  speech  during  his  brief  senato- 
rial term,  but  it  was  arranged  by  the  democratic 
minority  that,  in  a  certain  contingency,  he  should 
speak  on  some  pending  measure.  Unluckily  for 
the  country  at  large,  that  contingency  never  arose. 
From  that  date  Dr.  Miller's  personal  connection 
with  State  or  national  politics  came  to  a  close,  ex- 
cept that  he  occasionally  addressed  the  people  dur- 
ing presidential  campaigns.  During  the  Greeley 
campaign  he  spoke  to  a  packed  house  in  Atlanta, 
and  the  memory  of  that  remarkable  oration  yet 
lingers.  An  eminent  jurist  has  recently  said  that 
it  was  the  grandest  speech  to  which  he  ever  list- 
ened. In  the  same  campaign  he  made  a  wonderful 
speech  in  Raleigh,  N.  C,  which  Governor  Graham 
pronounced  the  ablest  ever  made  in  that  city.  In 
Columbus,  Ga.,  and  Knoxville,  Tenn.,  he  likewise 
made  phenomenal  speeches. 

Having  briefly  commented  on  the  leading  events 
of  his  long  and  somewhat  chequered  life,  it  is  in 
order  to  attempt  some  general  estimate  of  his 
character  and  capacity.  This  estimate  must  needs 
be  brief,  as  we  do  not  propose  to  transcend  our 
prescribed  limits. 


222  BIOGRAPHIC  ETCHINGS 

Aside  from  his  native  endowments  which  are 
confessedly  of  a  high  order,  Dr.  Miller  is  noted  for 
his  multifarious  learning.  His  information  on 
almost  every  subject  is  not  only  very  large  as  to 
the  amount  of  it,  but  it  is  thoroughly  accurate. 
He  has  read  more  extensively  than  almost  any 
Georgian  of  his  generation,  and  he  retains  every- 
thing that  he  reads.  He  is  unquestionably  more 
familiar  with  ancient  and  modern  history  than 
any  man,  young  or  old,  that  we  have  chanced  to 
meet  in  the  course  of  a  long  lifetime.  This  is  not 
said  for  a  present  purpose.  On  the  contrar}', 
years  ago,  in  a  contribution  to  a  leading  daily 
paper,  we  stated  that  he  might  be  properly  styled 
the  " admirable  C  rich  ton"  of  his  time. 

The  late  Mr.  Grad}^  held  a  similar  opinion  in  re- 
gard to  the  vastness  and  variety  of  his  attain- 
ments. In  every  emergency  he  sought  his  advice, 
and  every  great  speech  of  his  life  was  submitted  to 
his  criticism.  There  was  something  touching  in 
the  close  and  confidential  relationship  of  these  two 
great  men.  They  had  some  gifts  alike  and  Mr. 
Grady  did  not  more  reverence  his  venerable  friend 
than  did  Dr.  Miller  admire  Grady's  brilliancy  and 
thorough  originality.  He  has  been  known  to  say 
that  Mr.  Grady  was  developing  more  rapidly  at 
the  time  of  his  death  than  during  any  former 
period  of  his  life. 

It  is  proper  to  add  that  Dr.  Miller  deserves  a 
high  rank  as  a  conversationalist.    His  perfect  self- 


OF   MINISTERS    AND    LAYMEN.  223 

poise,  even  in  the  presence  of  such  men  as  Macaulay, 
Thackeray,  Calhoun,  Clay,  and  lesser  lights,  and 
his  absolute  and  ready  command  of  his  intellecual 
resources  fitted  him  to  shine  in  anv  circle. 

a/ 

The  beauty  of  his  private  life  is  next  in  impor- 
tance to  his  strong  religious  convictions.  He  has 
little  sympathy  with  a  progressive  theology,  but 
warmly  affects  a  simple,  old-fashioned  gospel,  such 
as  he  heard  in  other  days  from  the  lips  of  Glenn, 
Payne,  Parks,  and  the  Pierces.  Some  years  ago 
he  retired  from  his  official  position  as  a  lay  preacher 
in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South.  This 
step  was  taken  against  the  protest  of  very  many 
friends,  but  he  was  moved  thereto  by  his  strong 
sense  of  duty.  He  has  never  wavered  in  his  at- 
tachment to  the  church  itself,  and  is  still  a  con- 
sistent and  liberal  member  of  the  Trinity  congre- 
gation of  this  city. 

As  may  be  learned  from  a  previous  statement  in 
this  sketch,  he  is  now  eighty-one  years  of  age,  but 
still  occupies  responsible  positions  as  medical  lec- 
turer, practicing  physician,  and  trustee  of  thirty 
years  standing  of  the  University  of  Georgia.  It 
may  not  be  said  of  him,  as  is  said  by  inspiration 
of  Moses  at  a  riper  age,  that  his  eyes  are  not 
dimmed  nor  his  natural  force  abated,  but  thou- 
sands throughout  Georgia  and  the  whole  South 
will  in  regard  to  him  join  in  the  pious  wish  of  the 
Latin  poet: 

"Serus  in  czlum  rede  as. n 


224  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 


DR.  T.  O.  POWELL. 

This  distinguished  superintendent  of  the  Georgia 
Lunatic  Asylum  at  Milledgeville,  Ga.,  has  held 
that  highly  honorable  and  responsible  position  for 
a  series  of  years. 

Under  his  able  supervision  it  has  steadily  grown 
in  popularity.  At  this  date  the  inmates  of  both 
races,  aggregate  nearly  two  thousand  in  number. 

For  this  class  of  unfortunates  Dr.  Powell  has 
the  warmest  Christian  sympathy  and  spares  no 
effort  to  contribute  to  their  well-being,  physically 
and  spiritually. 

This  latter  feature  of  his  administration  is  deserv- 
ing of  special  commendation,  and  in  it  he  has  the 
earnest  co-operation  of  Rev.  J.  M.  White,  the 
chaplain  of  the  institution. 

Dr.  Powell  is  a  native  of  Brunswick  county, 
Virginia,  of  gentle  birth  and  thorough  religious 
training. 

His  educational  opportunities  were  good  from 
the  outset  of  his  academic  career.  After  leaving 
college  he  began  the  study  of  medicine  and  in  due 
time  graduated    with  a  very  high   class-standing. 

From  that  period  he  has  grown  in  public  fa^or, 
both  in  Virginia  and  Georgia. 

Now,  when  but  slightly  past  the  meridian  of  his 
professional  life,  he  has  the  prospect  of  many  years 
of  activity,  crowned  wTith  yet  greater  honors. 


OF   MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  225 

In  his  specialty  his  reputation  is  national,  nor 
indeed  is  it  confined  to  this  country.  In  Europe 
he  is  well  and  favorably  known  through  the  me- 
dium of  his  annual  reports.  These  have  often  re- 
ceived the  hearty  endorsement  of  the  ablest  med- 
ical journalists  in  both  hemispheres. 

Dr.  T.  S.  Powell,  of  Atlanta,  his  elder  half- 
brother,  is  himself  likewise  a  Virginian  of  the 
"bluest  blood,"  andaphysician  and  churchman  of 
deserved  celebrity. 

He  is  very  generally  known  as  the  founder  of 
the  Southern  Medical  College,  which,  under  his 
efficient  presidency,  has  become  a  leading  medical 
institution  in  the  Southern  States.  He  has  given  a 
large  share  of  his  professional  attention  to  gyne- 
cology in  its  modern  acceptation.  His  lectures 
on  this  and  its  related  branches  have  attracted  no 
little  attention  in  various  towns  and  cities  of  the 
South. 

His  two  lectures  on  "Medical  Ethics"  and  "The 
True  Gentleman"  have  been  widely  circulated. 

The  literary  material  for  an  elaborate  volume 
on  professional  topics  will  probably  at  some  fu- 
ture day  be  issued  from  the  press. 

It  is  rarely  the  case  that  two  brothers  have 
won  like  prominence  in  the  same  or  similar  lines  of 
professional  work. 


15 


226  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 


WALTER  T.   COLQUITT. 

This  singularly  gifted  man  was  known  to  me  in 
ray  early  boyhood. 

At  that  date  he  was  famous  throughout  Geor- 
gia as  a  local  preacher  of  the  Methodist  church. 
At  the  same  time  he  was  a  statesman  who  ranked 
high  as  a  democratic  leader  in  both  branches  of 
congress,  and  who  at  an  earlier  period  had  been 
distinguished  as  a  circuit  judge,  and  possibly  the 
only  one  who  opened  the  sessions  of  his  court  by 
thanksgiving  and  prayer. 

In  these  several  capacities  he  won  great  renown, 
especially  on  the  rostrum  during  the  Polk  and 
Dallas  campaign  in  1844. 

I  heard  him  on  two  or  more  of  these  occasions 
when  he  swayed  his  audiences  by  a  style  of  ora- 
tory not  thoroughly  classical,  but  forceful  as  the 
deliverances  of  such  old-time  orators  as  "honest 
Nat  Macon"  and  TomCorwin,  of  Ohio,  with  both 
of  whom  he  differed  politically,  but  whom  he  re- 
sembled closely  in  his  mental  characteristics. 

There  were  times,  both  on  the  platform  and  in 
the  pulpit,  nor  less  when  addressing  a  jury,  when 
he  spoke  with  the  fervor  of  the  Roman  Gracchi. 
I  have  seen  him  more  than  once  get  on  his  knees 
before  a  leading  juror  and  talk  to  him  for  five 
minutes  with    an    impassioned    earnestness    that 


OF    MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  227 

carried  conviction  with  it  and  probably   won   the 
verdict  for  his  client. 

Many  who  knew  him  longest  and  best  thought 
that  his  greatest  speech  was  delivered  in  1848  at 
Temperance  Hall,  Columbus.  I  heard  the  perora- 
tion only,  but  will  never  forget  how  it  was  greeted 
by  thunders  of  applause.  When  I  entered  on  my 
ministry  at  Columbus,  in  1855,  I  found  him  utterly 
prostrated  by  age  and  disease.  During  my  fre- 
quent visits  to  his  sick  chamber  he  often  spoke  of 
his  political  and  ministerial  career.  He  as- 
sured me  that  at  no  time,  even  when  the  political 
campaign  was  the  hottest,  did  he  ever  waver  in  his 
allegiance  to  his  divine  Master,  nor  consciously 
compromise  his  character  as  a  minister  of  the 
gospel. 

Only  a  few  months  thereafter  he  died  in  Macon, 
but  his  remains  w^ere  brought  to  Columbus  for 
interment.  An  immense  congregation  attended 
the  funeral  obsequies. 

His  old  friend,  Dr.  Lovick  Pierce,  preached  the 
sermon  with  a  power  and  a  pathos  seldom  heard 
on  such  an  occasion. 


228  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 


BENJAMIN  HARVEY  HILL. 
Georgia's  greatest  senator. 

It  is  difficult  to  portray-  in  a  sketch  the  remark- 
able life  of  Benjamin  Harvey  Hill,  so  as  to  reveal 
clearly  the  greatness  of  the  man.  It  can  be  said 
that  he  was  a  jurist  of  unsurpassed  ability,  but 
in  order  to  give  a  just  conception  of  his  great 
powers  as  a  lawyer,  it  would  be  necessary  to  pro- 
duce the  easily-found  evidences  of  his  forensic 
achievements.  A  sketch  may  announce  his  states- 
manship in  terms  of  eulogy,  which  would  only 
whet  the  desire  for  the  many  proofs  that  can  be 
given  of  his  great  grasp  of  public  questions.  He 
was  eloquent  almost  beyond  comparison  with 
other  men,  and  yet  that  declaration  does  not  sat- 
isfy the  wish  for  ample  description  of  the  won- 
derful witchery  of  his  tongue.  Conscious  that  not 
the  shadow  of  justice  would  be  done  him  in  the 
use  of  platitudes  so  often  employed  in  the  flattery 
of  men,  and  also  in  accordance  with  the  scope  of 
the  sketches  included  in  this  work,  this  brief  mem- 
orandum will  deal  mainlv  with  his  life  as  a  lavman 
of  the  Church  of  Christ. 

Christianity  is  not  nattered  by  the  allegiance  of 
great  minds,  and  it  does  not  need  that  rulers  shall 
believe  in    Christ  in   order  to  insure  its    success 


OF  MINISTERS    AND   LAYMEN.  229 

among  men.  The  simple  wa}rfarer,  the  humble 
poor,  the  undistinguished  peasant,  are  equally  the 
honored  witnesses  of  the  Truth  as  it  is  in  Christ 
Jesus,  and  such  as  these  have  hitherto  set  at 
naught  the  wisdom  of  the  world.  Nevertheless, 
the  faith  of  men  like  Chief  Justice  Jackson,  Thos. 
R.  R.  Cobb,  Joseph  E.  Brown,  A.  H.  Stephens,  L. 
Q.C.Lamar,  Alfred  H.  Colquitt,  Benjamin H. Hill, 
and  multitudes  more  princely  spirits  such  as  these, 
put  to  shame  the  infidelity  which  denies  the  reason- 
ableness of  the  soul's  great  trust  in  Jesus  Christ 
as  the  Saviour  of  the  sinner. 

In  commencing  this  tracing  of  a  great  la3rman's 
life,  one's  interest  is  excited  by  the  fact  that  his 
father,  John  Hill,  was  one  of  the  early  fruits  of  pio- 
neer Methodism  in  North  Carolina .  Converted  and 
imbued  with  the  fresh  spirit  of  the  religion  wThich 
A sbury  taught,  the  young  North  Carolinian,  and 
his  equally  pious  wife,  Sarah  Parham,  made  their 
first  home  on  the  farm  at  Hillsboro,  Jasper  county, 
Georgia.  There,  John  Hill  became  a  steward  and 
class-leader  of  his  church,  a  trustee  of  the  school, 
president  of  the  temperance  society,  and  in  gen- 
eral a  leader  of  the  people  in  every  righteous  move- 
ment. There,  too,  in  the  home  of  this  honest,  intel- 
ligent farmer  and  his  wife,  their  seventh  child  wTas 
born,  September^,  1823,  whom  they  named  Ben- 
jamin Harvey  Hill.  Ten  years  afterward,  the  Hill 
family  moved  to  Long  Cane,  in  Troup  county, 
Georgia,  to  a  farm  in  the  woods,  where  the  house- 


230  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

hold,  working  together,  made  a  bountiful  sub- 
sistence out  of  the  soil.  Ben  did  his  part  with  the 
hoe,  and  held  his  place  at  the  plow,  until  the  sum- 
mer school  of  the  neighborhood  opened,  when  he 
as  diligently  mastered  the  rudiments  of  education. 
His  rapid  progress  inspired  his  fond  mother  with 
the  desire  to  have  him  receive  a  college  training, 
and  in  order  to  overcome  the  obstacle  of  limited 
means,  devoted  the  income  of  her  special  patch  to 
his  use,  and  made  his  clothes  at  home.  A  good 
aunt  gave  a  small  additional  sum,  and  it  was 
agreed  that  their  son  should  have  the  advantages 
which  he  craved. 

Accordingly,  in  1841,  Ben  came  to  Athens, 
dressed  in  gray  jeans ;  tall  and  slender,  with  a 
pale  and  thoughtful  face,  and  rather  shy  and 
awkward.  But  he  was  graduated  with  the  first 
honor,  and  made  a  valedictory^  speech,  of  which 
an  eminent  man  said:  "That  speech  stamped 
the  young  orator  as  a  man  of  wonderful  power." 
The  best  record  of  his  college  life,  however,  is  thus 
stated  by  Dr.  G.  J.  Orr,  who  was  one  of  his  class- 
mates :  "He  was  a  pure  and  exalted  boy,  through 
all  my  college  acquaintance  with  him.  There  was 
not  the  slightest  shadow  of  immorality  in  his 
character."  In  fact,  he  had  gone  to  college  a  con- 
verted Christian,  and  member  of  the  church.  His 
boyhood  had  passed  amidst  the  influences  of  the 
Christian  home,  his  principles  were  established 
through  the  precepts  of  his  father,  and  his  heart 


OF    MINISTERS    AND    LAYMEN.  231 

-was  steadied  by  the  love  of  his  mother,  so  that  the 
seductions  of  college  life  failed  to  corrupt  him. 

Commencing  the  practice  of  law,  he  chose  most 
happily  as  his  companion  for  life,  Miss  Caroline  E. 
Holt,  whom  he  often  lovingly  alluded  to  as  "the 
mainspring  of  my  life."  The  home  of  the  young 
couple  was  fixed  at  LaGrange,  and  into  that  new 
household  there  entered  the  salutary  influences  of 
the  old  homestead  at  Long  Cane.  The  same  Bible 
teaching,  the  family  altar,  the  welcomed  pastor, 
the  love  of  the  church,  the  domestic  honor  paid  to 
Christ  and  his  cause  in  the  presence  of  their 
children,  showed  that  the  reverence  for  the  faith 
and  practice  of  their  ancestors  had  not  departed 
from  the  hearts  of  the  young  people.  Both  be- 
longed to  the  church,  and  both,  in  name  and  deeds, 
worked  together  in  the  benevolent  offices  of  their 
religion.  Mr.  Hill  was  soon  made  superintendent 
of  the  Sunday-school,  and  we  may  well  conceive 
how  well  qualified  he  was  for  that  position.  His 
activity  in  the  work  of  his  church,  and  in  all  local 
movements  for  the  benefit  of  the  splendid  commu- 
nity at  LaGrange,  manifested  his  religious  as  well 
as  his  patriotic  spirit. 

Very  quickly  his  brilliant  ability  as  a  lawyer, 
his  eloquence  as  a  public  speaker,  and  his  moral 
worth,  became  the  admiration  of  Troup  county, 
and,  contra^  to  his  own  inclinations,  he  was 
pushed  into  political  prominence  from  his  early 
manhood.     But  this  sketch  will  not  permit  us  to 


232  BIOGRAPHIC   ETCHINGS 

follow  him  in  that  shining  path  which  defeats 
could  not  obscure,  and  where  victories  merely 
opened  the  way  to  wider  usefulness.  His  political 
life  covered  the  most  exciting  and  deeply  important 
period  in  the  history  of  our  country.  Commencing 
at  the  bloom  of  his  young  manhood,  in  1850,  this 
era  went  on  through  a  decade  which  led  up  to  the 
Confederate  war,  and  afterward  included  the  sub- 
sequent years  of  Reconstruction — a  rare  era,  which 
demanded  rare  men,  and  among  them  there  was 
no  greater  than  himself.  He  was  a  worshipper  of 
an  ideal  Union,  a  true  lover  of  his  country  for  his 
country's  sake — a  typical  patriot !  After  Georgia 
seceded  from  the  Union,  he  was  elected  as  one  of 
its  senators  in  the  Confederate  Congress,  where  he 
maintained  with  eminent  ability  the  cause  of  the 
South,  and  was  the  trusted  counselor  of  President 
Davis.  His  genius,  always  luminous,  grew  in 
brilliancy  amidst  the  struggles  of  the  new  nation, 
and  became  still  more  intense  during  those  years 
of  trial,  which  followed  the  defeat  of  the  Confed- 
eracy. His  greatest  thoughts  are  in  "The  Notes  on 
the  Situation,  "written  during  this  perilous  period. 
His  greatest  speeches  were  made  in  Georgia,  and  in 
the  United  States  Congress,  after  the  war  was 
over.  He  was  at  the  zenith  of  his  cumulative 
abilities,  when  a  mysterious  malady  touched  his 
tongue,  and  arrested  his  useful  life. 

In  all  this  remarkable  career  as  a  public  man,  Mr. 
Hill  held  fast  to  the  faith  of  his  youth.    His  grow- 


OF    MINISTERS   AND    LAYMEN.  283 

ing  household  so  enjoyed  his  loving  attention  that 
his  children  blessed  him  rather  for  his  fatherhood 
than  for  his  fame,  and  his  ever  tender  wife  thought 
of  him  more  as  her  husband  than  as  the  leader  of 
his  people.  His  liberality  to  the  church  was  so 
marked  as  to  induce  a  certain  reliance  on  his  aid 
in  every  enterprise.  The  orphans'  home,  the  su- 
perannuates' fund,  the  subscriptions  for  church 
buildings,  the  support  of  the  preacher,  and,  indeed, 
every  other  cause  of  Christ,  had  no  readier  and  less 
ostentatious  giver.  He  made  money  with  ease,  he 
lost  it  without  care,  he  gave  it  with  hearty  liber- 
ality. 

The  closing  of  his  notable  life  in  "the  sad  mys- 
tery" of  the  unimagined  malady  of  cancer,  has 
only  these  consolations,  that  it  brought  out  clearly 
to  public  view  how  dearly  he  was  loved  by  the 
people,  and  furnished  a  true  witness  of  the  power 
of  Divine  grace  and  truth.  For  many  months,  and 
amidst  the  most  heroic  efforts  to  stay  its  progress, 
the  dreadful  destroyer  of  his  earthly  life  went 
steadily  on  in  its  fatal  work.  During  these  months 
of  suspense,  he  calmly  confronted  the  possibility 
of  death.  Speaking  to  his  wife  and  children,  he 
said  :  "It  is  astonishing  how  the  horrors  of  death 
diminish  as  it  approaches.  How  riches,  honors, 
position,  the  world's  applause,  dwindle  into  insig. 
nificance.  I  lean  upon  the  everlasting  arms,  and 
my  trust  is  in  Christ."  Unable  at  length  to  speak 
distinctly,  he  wrote  upon  the  leaves  of  a  pad  when 


234  BIOGRAPHIC     ETCHINGS 

he  would  converse  with  his  family  or  friends.  For 
one  friend,  he  wrote  these  words :  "My  future  is 
uncertain  as  to  time,  but  not  as  to  fact.  I  am  per- 
fectly resigned  ;  God  will  take  care  of  me."  For 
another,  he  wrote:  "I  believe  that  God  is  a  living 
God,  and  that  Christ  came  into  the  world  to  save 
sinners,  and  He  will  save  me."  And  again,  upon 
another  slip,  he  traced  these  words  of  faith  in  the 
power  of  the  resurrection:  "If  a  grain  of  corn 
wall  die,  and  then  rise  again  in  so  much  beauty, 
why  may  not  I  die  and  then  rise  again  in  infinite 
beauty  and  life?  How  is  the  last  a  greater  mys- 
tery than  the  first  ?  ' ' 

"The  world  has  possession  of  his  last  words.  It 
was  a  few  hours  preceding  his  death,  when  he  was 
rapidly  sinking  and  had  not  written  or  spoken  a 
word  for  many  hours.  Opening  his  eyes  and 
arousing  himself  for  a  moment,  the  light  of  life 
came  full  into  his  eyes  once  more,  and,  with  a 
slight  effort,  he  spoke  out  in  clear,  triumphant  ac- 
cent, the  deathless  legend  of  a  soul  conquering 
through  Christ  and  in  full  view  of  heaven — 'Almost 
Home!'" 

"Men  are  greatest  when  they  give  the  greater 
glory  of  all  their  achievements  to  God,  and  so 
live  that  when  the}^  fail  on  earth,  they  find  a  home 
not  made  with  hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens." 


OF   MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  235 


JOHN  WESLEY  STANTON 

Was  born  in  Monroe  count\r,  Tenn.,  December 
23,  1823.  His  parents  moved  to  Murray,  now 
Whitfield  county,  Ga.,  when  he  was  ten  years  old. 
He  was  converted  and  joined  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church  when  he  was  about  18  years  of 
age,  under  the  pastorate  of  Rev.  Wm.  Hickey, 
then  a  member  of  the  Holston  Conference.  Since 
that  time  he  has  been  an  active  and  prominent 
member  of  the  church,  serving  in  the  various 
offices  held  by  laymen.  His  house  has  always  been 
a  home  for  Methodist  preachers. 

His  ancestors,  on  both  sides,  at  least  for  three  or 
four  generations,  were  Methodists.  In  their 
homes  Methodist  preachers  not  only  found  a  rest- 
ing place,  but  often  preaching  places.  Among 
these  preachers  was  Bishop  Asbury,  who  often 
preached  in  the  homes  of  both  of  Mr.  Stanton's 
grandfathers.  His  father  also  entertained  the 
bishop  in  his  home,  and  the  bishop  used  him  very 
freely.  One  time  he  sent  for  him  to  pilot  him  to 
one  of  his  appointments,  and  when  he  came  the 
bishop  playfully  remarked  :  "John,  I  have  made 
your  will  without  consulting  you." 

Mr.  Stanton's  mother  was  a  Douthit  before  her 
marriage.  You  can  see  from  his  journal  that 
Bishop  Asbury  often  stopped  in  his     home.     Also 


286  BIOGRAPHIC  ETCHINGS 

preached  there.  Once  when  he  reached  their  home 
in  South  Carolina  (they  first  entertained  him  while 
thev  lived  in  North  Carolina)  after  a  trying  journey 
across  the  mountains  of  Tennessee  and  North  Caro- 
lina, he  recorded  in  his  journal  that  he  then  "bade 
a  farewell  for  awhile  to  filth,  fleas,  rattlesnakes, 
hills,  mountains  and  rivers."  When  she  was  a  girl 
of  five  years  she  used  to  bathe  the  bishop's  feet  when 
he  came  in  from  his  long,  wearisome  journeys. 
She  thus  in  the  true  way  "washed  the  saints' 
feet."  Her  brothers,  James  and  Samuel  Douthit, 
were  for  years  members  of  the  South  Carolina  Con- 
ference. On  circuit  and  district  James  served  in  Vir- 
ginia, North  Carolina,  South  Carolina  and  Georgia, 
with  faithfulness  and  great  success.  In  a  limited 
way  Samuel  was  an  author.  "The  Zion's  Travel- 
er: Hymns  and  Spiritual  Songs  by  Doctor  S. 
Douthit,  1835,"  is  a  book  of  148  pages,  contain- 
ing 84  hymns  and  several  essays. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  married  Miss  Lucinda 
White  Hale,  of  Bradley  county,  Tenn.,  March, 
1843.  They  lived  in  what  is  now  Whitfield  county, 
Georgia,  until  1863,  when  they  moved  to 
Gordon  county,  Ga.,  where  they  now  live.  They 
raised  nine  children,  six  boys  and  three  girls;  all 
of  whom  are  now  living,  and  gathered  at  the  old 
home  in  a  family  reunion  only  last  year.  They 
are  all  members  of  the  Methodist  church  except 
the  oldest  son,  and    he    is    a  prominent    layman 


OF   MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  237 

in  the  Baptist  church.    Two  of  his  sons  are  mem- 
bers of  the  North  Georgia  Conference. 

Mr.  Stanton  was  in  the  Confederate  arm}'  dur- 
ing the  civil  war.  Whether  in  camp  or  on  battle- 
field, he  was  regarded  as  a  brave  soldier  and 
Christian  gentleman.  Though  always  taking  a 
livel}T  interest  in  politics,  he  was  never  a  politician. 
Nor  was  he  ever  an  office-seeker,  biit  served  his 
county  in  the  legislature  in  1866-67. 


JAMES  JACKSON. 

THE  CHRISTIAN  JURIST. 

This  eminent  layman  was  a  lineal  descendant  of 
that  far-famed  governor  of  Georgia,  who,  Prome- 
theus-like, brought  down  fire  from  Heaven  that  he 
might  consume  the  records  of  the  memorable 
"Yazoo  Fraud."  For  this  act  of  disinterested 
patriotism  and  unswerving  official  integrity  his 
memory  will  be  honored  by  all  true  Georgians  to 
the  latest  generation. 

Chief  Justice  Jackson,  during  his  lifetime,  from 
his  first  entrance  into  political  leadership  and  all 
through  his  judicial  career,  exhibited  a  moral  cour- 
age not  unlike  that  of  his  illustrious  ancestor.    As  a 


238  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

statesman  he  won  high  rank  in  the  halls  of  legisla- 
tion, but  his  crowning  distinction  was  the  purity 
of  his  private  life  and  his  incorruptible  integrity 
as  a  judicial  officer.  For  both  these  reasons  he 
might  be  justly  named  the  Sir  Mathew  Hale  of 
the  "Georgia  bench.  To  these  general  statements 
we  subjoin  these  other  details  : 

Nearly  fifty  years  ago,  this  writer,  then  in  his 
boyhood,  met  him  for  the  first  time  during  a 
session  of  the  State  legislature  at  Milledgeville. 

He  was  at  that  time  an  aspirant  for  judicial 
honors,  for  which  his  friends  made  a  vigorous  and 
successful  canvass  in  his  behalf.  He  was  backed 
by  the  solid  Cobb  and  Jackson  influence,  which 
even  then  was  well-nigh  omnipotent  in  State 
affairs. 

From  that  date  he  was  conspicuous  as  a 
popular  leader,  and  seldom  failed  to  secure  the 
suffrages  of  a  handsome  majority  of  his  fellow- 
citizens. 

Thoroughly  educated,  an  orator  of  striking  en- 
dowments, and  better  than  all,  a  churchman  de- 
voted to  the  doctrines  and  practices  of  old-time 
Methodism,  he  had  on  every  occasion  a  large  and 
influential  following. 

Early  in  life  he  wedded  Miss  Addie  Mitchell, 
daughter  of  Hon.  Walter  H.  Mitchell,  a  prominent 
state  official.  This  beautiful  and  accomplished 
woman  was  the  mother  of  his  children  and 
shared  with  him  the  trials  and  triumphs  of  his  pro- 


OF   MINISTERS    AND   LAYMEN.  239 

fessional  life  until  God  called  her  to  a  better  estate 
in  the  heavenly  home.  This  domestic  bereavement 
brought  him  into  closer  communion  with  God, 
and  henceforward  his  religious  life  was  adorned 
by  the  choicest  gifts  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

On  all  proper  occasions  he  was  ready  to  testify 
for  the  Master,  and  his  fervent  appeals  to  sinners 
were  characterized  by  a  pathos  and  a  power 
that  made  him  not  less  useful  as  a  lay  preacher 
than  he  was  renowned  as  a  jurist. 

The  older  members  of  First  church,  Atlanta, 
have  not  forgotten  his  class-meeting  talks,  and 
the  echoes  of  his  exhortations  at  the  midweek 
prayer  service  still  linger  in  the  basement  of  the 
mother  church. 

The  closing  years  of  Chief  Justice  Jackson  were 
spent  on  the  bench  of  the  supreme  court,  a 
branch  of  the  public  service  to  which  he  was  emi- 
nently adapted  by  reason  of  taste,  temperament 
and  professional  acquirements. 

His  death  wras  regarded  by  his  countrymen, 
especially  by  the  legal  fraternity,  as  a  public  ca- 
lamity. 

His  second  wife,  who  survives  him,  was  a  sweet- 
spirited  mother  to  the  children  of  his  first  mar- 
riage, and  did  much  to  soothe  and  cheer  him  in 
the  disease  and  suffering  of  his  old  age. 


240  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 


W.  R.  HAMMOND. 

The  professional  career  of  this  gifted  Methodist 
la\rman  has  but  few  parallels  in  the  history  of  the 
Georgia  judicial. 

Graduating  at  the  State  University  at  twenty- 
two  years  of  age  he  not  only  carried  off  the 
highest  honors  of  that  institution,  but  secured  the 
highest  class  mark  ever  attained  by  any  student  up 
to  the  time  of  his  graduation.  Entering  at  once 
on  the  study  of  the  law  in  his  father's  office  he 
made  such  rapid  progress  that  in  less  than  ten 
years  he  w^as  a  conspicuous  figure  at  the  Atlanta 
bar,  wTith  a  lucrative  practice. 

Two  years  thereafter  he  was  chosen  by  the  State 
legislature  to  fill  the  unexpired  term  of  Judge 
George  Hillyeron  the  Atlanta  circuit  and  at  the  en- 
suing election  for  the  full  term  of  four  years. 
Such  had  been  the  brilliancy  of  his  past  ad- 
ministration that  he  was  again  elected  by  the 
legislature,  practically  without  a  dissenting  or 
an  opposing  ballot,  in  the  joint  session  of  the 
general  assembl}'. 

Considering  the  weighty  responsibility  attached 
to  the  judgeship  of  the  Atlanta  circuit,  this  result 
was  well-nigh  without  precedent  in  the  judicial 
record  of  the  commonwealth. 


OF    MINISTERS    AND  LAYMEN.  241 

At  the  close,  however,  of  the  first  year  of  this 
second  term  of  judicial  service  he  felt  constrained 
by  the  inadequacy  of  the  salary,  to  retire  from  the 
position.  Thereupon  he  resumed  his  law  practice 
in  connection  with  Hon.  John  I.  Hall,  one  of  the 
ablest  jurists  of  Georgia,  and  at  present  assistant 
to  the  attorney  general  of  the  United  States.  The 
firm  of  Hall  &  Hammond  is  still,  however,  intact. 

For  a  number  of  }-ears  Judge  Hammond  has 
been  retained  as  leading  counsel  in  some  of  the 
most  important  cases  which  have  been  adjudi- 
cated in  the  Atlanta  courts.  Notunfrequently,  also, 
his  arguments  in  the  supreme  court  have  been  com- 
plimented by  the  presiding  judges  of  that  emi- 
nent tribunal.  One  instance  of  this  sort  occurred 
on  the  final  hearing  of  the  writ  of  error  in  the 
celebrated  Cox  case.  The  lower  court  had  found 
the  defendant  guilty,  and  he  was  sentenced  to  a  lite 
term  of  imprisonment.  On  the  review  of  the 
case  in  the  supreme  court  Judge  Hammond,  by 
arrangement,  appeared  in  the  role  of  leading 
counsel.  His  argument  was  a  notable  one,  so 
much  so  that  he  was  profusely  complimented  by 
bench  and  bar.  A  majority  of  the  court  affirmed 
the  decision  of  the  court  below,  but  Judge  Warner 
delivered  a  very  able  and  elaborate  dissenting 
opinion.  A  distinguished  member  of  the  Atlanta 
bar  states  that  Judge  Hammond's  speech  was  one 
of  the  most  masterful  to  which  he  had  ever  listened , 
and  that  be3^ond  question   it  elicited  the  dissent- 

16 


242  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

ing  opinion  of  Judge  Warner,  which  opinion  after- 
wards led  to  the  pardoning  of  Mr.  Cox  by  Gover- 
nor Stephens. 

On  more  than  one  occasion  Judge  Warner  is 
credibly  reported  to  have  said  in  private  circles 
that  the  Hammond  speech  in  the  Cox  case  was 
equal  to  the  best  he  ever  heard  in  the  supreme 
court. 

This  was  a  notable  tribute  from  a  high  quarter, 
and  yet  it  was  full}'  merited,  if  our  information  is 
reliable. 

WTe  refer  to  this  particular  case  for  the  reason 
that  it  awakened  a  wide  public  interest,  and  for 
the  additional  reason  that  it  involved  great  princi- 
ples of  criminal  jurisprudence. 

In  both  these  respects  it  deserves  to  rank  with 
the  memorable  Crowninshield  casein  Massachu- 
setts, in  which  Mr.  Webster  won  as  many  laurels 
as  in  his  grand  argument  in  the  Dartmouth  College 
case.  This  forensic  achievement  of  Judge  Ham- 
mond in  the  Cox  case  is  alone  sufficient  to  entitle 
him  to  very  high  consideration  as  a  well-equipped 
and  successful  advocate. 

In  this  pen  picture  of  one  of  Atlanta's  foremost 
jurists,  we  may  not  overlook  the  fact  that  Judge 
Hammond  has,  from  his  early  manhood,  been  a 
student  of  standard  literature.  Few  men  are  bet- 
ter versed  in  history,  poetry  and  the  best  class  of 
fiction.  From  these  sources  he  has  drawn  inspira- 
tion for  the  lecture  platform  and  the  popular  as- 


OF    MINISTERS   AND  LAYMEN.  243 

sembly.  I  was  several  years  ago  one  of  a  large 
audience  that  heard,  with  great  satisfaction  and 
profit,  a  commencement  address  which  he  delivered 
at  the  LaGrange  Female  College  on  "Memory  and 
Hope." 

While  the  main  drift  of  this  admirable  address 
was  didactic,  yet  it  was  embellished  with  flights 
of  thrilling  oratory,  and  now  and  then  enlivened 
with  choice  bits  of  the  best  humor.  From  time  to 
time  its  deliver}-  was  punctuated  by  hearty  ap- 
plause, showing  that  he  was  en  rapport  with  his 
delighted  audience.  At  another  time  he  presented 
the  Sophomore  prizes  at  Emory  College  commence- 
ment, and  from  that  address  we  have  been  permit- 
ted to  make  but  a  single  brief  extract.  His  well- 
chosen  theme  for  the  occasion  was  "The  Condi- 
tions of  Success  in  Public  Speaking." 

"The  art  of  the  orator,  young  gentlemen,  con- 
sists chiefly  in  compelling  the  attention  of  an  in- 
different or  even  unwilling  hearer.  Some  of  you, 
I  am  quite  sure,  have  heard  of  the  question  which 
the  bishop  of  London  propounded  to  David  Gar- 
rick,  the  Roscius  of  the  British  stage.  'How  is 
it,'  asked  the  bishop,  'that  \^ou  who  speak  fiction 
can  powerfully  arouse  the  emotions  of  an  audi- 
ence, while  I,  who  speak  to  them  of  the  weightest 
matters,  can  scarcely  get  their  attention?'  'Be- 
cause,' wras  the  reply,  '37ou  speak  truths  as  if  it 
were  fiction,  while  I  speak  fiction  as  if  it  were 
truth.'    If  the  bishop  had  given  as  much  study  to 


244  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

the  art  of  expression  as  the  great  actor  had  done, 
he  might  have  found  that  his  delighted  audience 
would   have  heard  him  gladly. 

"The  manner  of  serving  our  thoughts  to  others 
ma}7  be  likened  somewhat  to  the  manner  of  serv- 
ings meal.  Food  may  be  of  the  best  quality  and 
rendered  thoroughly  digestible  by  suitable  cooking, 
yet  be  served  in  such  a  way  as  not  only  not  to 
tempt,  but  to  be  utterly  repulsive.  On  the  other 
hand  it  may  be  so  daintily  arranged  and  so  deli- 
cately served  as  almost  to  compel  the  appetite  of 
the  weakest  invalid. 

"But  I  wrould  not  wish  to  be  understood  as  un- 
duly emphasizing  the  mere  external  graces  and 
embellishments  of  oratory.  There  is  a  deeper  and 
more  subtle  element  which  enters  into  and  exer- 
cises a  controlling  influence  over  the  orator's  man- 
ner which  is  far  more  important.  It  is  that  which 
gives  him  individuality,  and  that  almost  indefin- 
able thing  which  we  call  personal  magnetism,  by 
which  he  establishes  a  direct  communication,  be- 
tween his  own  spirit  and  that  of  his  hearers.  He 
thus  comes  into  harmony  with  them.  When  thus 
catching  the  gleam  of  intelligent  apprehension  and 
the  glow  of  responsive  feeling  in  their  faces,  he 
gets  an  inspiration  which  enables  him  to  rise  to 
the  loftiest  and  grandest  heights  of  eloquence." 
These  few  terse  sentences  embod\-  the  whole  art, 
and  philosophy  of  elocution. 


OF   MINISTERS   AND  LAYMEN.  245 

Less  than  a  year  ago  Judge  Hammond  delivered, 
during  the  session  of  the  Southern  Teachers'  Asso- 
ciation in  this  city,  an  excellent  address  on  "Moral 
Instruction  in  Primary  Schools."  By  general 
consent  it  was  considered  one  of  the  most  edify- 
ing deliverances  of  that  interesting  occasion. 
During  his  long  connection  with  the  Atlanta 
Board  of  Education  he  has  bestowed  much  though  t 
on  methods  of  teaching,  and  our  public  school 
system  has  been  greatly  benefited  b\T  his  judicious 
counsels.  In  the  outset  of  this  sketch  we  made  in- 
cidental reference  to  Judge  Hammond's  consecra- 
tion to  Christian  duty,  and  some  enlargement  on 
that  phase  of  his  character  is  not  only  allowable, 
but  imperative. 

For  more  than  twenty  years  he  has  been  a 
worthy  office-bearer  of  Trinity  church,  and  has  al- 
ways been  ready  for  sacrifices  or  service  when  the 
opportunity  was  offered. 

Emerson  says  that  the  average  Englishman, 
greatly  honored  Lord  Palmerston,  because  on 
every  Sabbath  morning  he  was  seen  wending  his 
way  to  church  with  his  prayer-book  under  his 
arm.  A  visitor  to  Trinity  Sunday-school  wTill 
rarely  miss  the  pleasant  face  of  this  Christian 
jurist,  nor  will  he  often  find  his  pew  vacant  at  the 
morning  or  evening  services.  This  means  much 
or  little  according  as  we  measure  life  or  estimate 
character  from  a  religious  or  an  infidel  stand- 
point. 


246  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 


WM.  A.  HEMPHILL. 

Nearly  thirty  years  ago,  when  stationed  at 
First  church  in  Athens,  I  heard  this  then  young 
Confederate  soldier  often  commended  for  his  in- 
dustrious habits  when  at  home,  and  his  gallantry 
after  he  went  to  the  battle-fields  of  Virginia. 

He  seems  to  have  been  from  his  earliest  boyhood 
a  promising  lad,  who  did  much  to  assist  his  aged 
parents  in  their  declining  \Tears.  He  was  recog- 
nized b}T  the  best  citizens  of  his  native  town  as 
destined  to  a  life  of  enterprise  and  usefulness. 

These  anticipations  were  realized,  when,  after  the 
war,  he  embarked  in  business  in  the  city  of  Atlanta. 

It  was  singularly  fortunate  that  he  conceived 
the  project  of  founding  the  Atlanta  Constitution, 
long  since  become  one  of  the  most  prosperous 
journals  of  tlie  South. 

This  is  but  one  of  the  leading  business  schemes 
in  which  he  has  invested  both  money  and  labor. 

He  has  seemed  to  appreciate  and  accept  the  ad- 
vice of  Mr.  Wesley  to  his  preachers  "never  be  un- 
employed, and  never  triflingly  employed."  His 
working  qualities  are  remarkable,  and  much  of  his 
time  he  does  the  labor  of  two  or  three  men. 

This,  however,  is  but  the  business  side  of  Brother 
Hemphill's  character.  He  carries  the  same  methods 
of  activity  into  his  churchmanship. 


OF   MINISTERS   AND  LAYMEN.  247 

He  was  a  leading  steward  of  Trinity  church 
twenty-five  years  ago,  and  he  is  always  consulted 
in  the  management  of  its  financial  affairs.  For 
fourteen  years  he  has  been  the  superintendent  of 
Trinity  Sunday-school,  which  is  much  the  largest  in 
the  city,  and  conducted  with  singular  skill  in  all  its 
departments.  He  is  likewise  active  in  the  social 
meetings  of  the  church,  speaks  well  in  the  love- 
feast  and  conducts  the  prayer-meeting  at  times 
with  great  satisfaction  to  the  pastor  and  congre- 
gation. 

He  has,  in  the  progress  of  years,  accumulated  a 
nandsome  fortune,  and  has  expended  no  little  of  his 
gains  in  public  and  private  benefactions. 

He  made  a  single  contribution  of  five  thousand 
dollars  to  Emory  College,  and  half  that  amount  to 
the  Barclay  mission,  one  of  the  noblest  charities  of 
the  Gate  City. 

Nor  is  he  proportionately  less  liberal  injudicious 
almsgiving. 

The  Atlanta  Constitution,  of  which  he  is  the 
financial  manager,  stands  ready,  in  seasons  of 
general  depression  and  suffering,  to  do  its  full  share 
for  the  relief  of  the  poor  of  the  citv. 

Tn  all  these  respects  Brother  Hemphill  has  been 
mindful  of  the  precept  "to  do  good  and  to  com- 
municate forget  not." 


-4S  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 


COL.  W.  W.  BOYD. 

My  first  knowledge  of  Bishop  Andrew  as  the 
president  of  an  Annual  Conference  was  at  Ameri- 
cus,  in  1856. 

As  we  came  out  of  the  Conference  room  at  the 
close  of  the  morning  session,  he  remarked  to  me, 
" Brother  Scott,  a  private  word  with  you."  We 
stepped  aside  in  the  churchyard  and  he  said  with  a 
smile,  "I  am  glad  to  be  informed  that  your  Mari- 
etta charge  desire  very  much  your  return  for  the 
second  year."  I  replied,  "Bishop,  I  should  be  sorry 
to  think  that  my  official  board  had  made  any 
formal  application  of  the  sort,  for  I  enjoined  upon 
them  to  leave  the  whole  matter  in  your  hands."  "I 
understand  that,"  he  said, "quite  perfectly,  but  I  re- 
ceived to-day  from  the  Georgia  Military  Institute 
a  petition  signed  by  every  cadet  very  respectfully 
asking  for  your  re-appointment.  It  is,"  said  he> 
"my  first  experience  of  the  sort,  and  is  gratifving 
to  me."  I  subsequently  learned  that  my  excellent 
friend,  Col.  W.  W.  Boyd,  the  commissar\r  of  the  In- 
stitute, was  foremost  in  the  movement. 

This  gentleman  and  his  pious  wife  were  mem- 
bers of  my  charge,  the  latter  having  been  Miss 
Brem,  of  Charlotte,  N.  C. 

Col.  Boyd  wras  a  man  of  splendid  physique,  of 
liberal  culture,  and  during  the  late  civil  war  was 


OF   MINISTERS   AND  LAYMEN.  249 

greatly  distinguished  for  his  personal  gallantry  in 
some  of  the  hardest  campaigns  of  that  four  years' 
conflict. 

He  commanded  the  19th  Georgia  regiment  at- 
tached to  the  famous  fighting  legion  of  General 
William  Phillips. 

Col.  Boyd  was  a  South  Carolinian  by  birth  and  a 
devoted  friend  of  General  Frank  Caper,  for  a  num- 
ber of  years  the  able  superintendent  of  the  Georgia 
Military  Institute.  A  large  number  of  those  who 
graduated  under  his  tuition,  amongst  them  Gen- 
eral P.  M.  B.  Young  and  Col.  John Milledge, made 
reputations  during  the  war,  both  in  the  east  and 
west.  The  McCleskey  boys,  of  Athens,  and  Dr. 
Todd,  of  Atlanta,  were  in  the  number  of  the  jun- 
ior cadets  that  won  their  spurs  at  Resaca,  Gris- 
woldville  and  Oconee  bridge. 

The  last  named  Dr  Todd,  is  a  staunch  Method- 
ist and  leading  physician  of  the  Gate  City,  who 
carries  in  his  "empty  sleeve"  the  badge  of  his 
youthful  bravery. 

Col.  Boyd  did  not  linger  many  years  after  the 
war,  but  died,  leaving  behind  his  estimable  wife. 

His  son,  Wallace  W.Boyd,  is  a  prominent  manu- 
facturer of  Atlanta,  and  an  official  member  of  the 
First  Presbyterian  church,  of  that  city. 

He  is  a  worthy  son,  with  a  noble  lineage  and  a 
charming  Christian  household. 


250  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 


GREEN    B.    HAYGOOD. 

Green  B.  Haygood,  Esq.,  was  a  lawyer  of  promi- 
nence at  the  Atlanta  bar,  when  the  present  city  was 
but  a  babe  in  the  woods  with  undreamed  of 
possibilities. 

At  the  same  time  Brother  Ha3rgood  was  a  Method- 
ist of  the  primitive  type  before  the  higher  criticism 
had  invaded  the  pulpit,  or  the  pew  had  been  in- 
fected b}7  the  spirit  of  worldliness  and  lost  its  relish 
for  the  fervent  response  of  the  amen  corner. 

Looked  at  from  a  phrenological  standpoint,  he 
combined  the  lymphatic  and  bilious  tempera- 
ments, with  a  clear  preponderance  of  the  former, 
as  indicated  by  his  massive  physical  and  mental 
structure.  He  was  somewhat  lacking  in  enthusi- 
asm, but  his  religious  convictions  were  deep 
and  abiding,  and  whether  in  storm  or  shine,  he 
was  true  to  his  church,  and  a  valiant  champion  of 
the  right  in  things  great  and  small,  as  he  wTas 
enabled  to  see  it. 

As  a  jurist,  he  ranked  with  the  foremost  of  his 
contemporaries,  reaching  his  conclusions  by  a 
slow  but  sure  process  of  reasoning. 

He  was  always  in  sympathy  with  the  masses, 
but  as  far  removed  from  demagogism  as  the 
veriest  patrician  of  the  Coriolanus  stripe.  For  this 
reason,  mainly,  he  was  seldom  called  to  any  official 


OF   MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  251 

position  outside  of  church  affairs.  In  these  ecclesi- 
astical matters  he  was  always  at  the  front  in  de- 
vising and  executing  schemes  for  the  enlargement  of 
the  visible  kingdom  of  Christ. 

When  Wesley  Chapel  was  no  longer  adequate  to 
the  demands  of  Methodism  in  both  North  and 
South  Atlanta,  he  was  one  of  the  first  to  enlist  in 
an  effort  to  establish  Trinit\r  church.  In  this  en- 
terprise he  had  the  hearty  co-operation  of  E.  E. 
Rawson,  Frank  Richardson,  Rev.  Lewis  Lawshe, 
and  other  leading  southsiders.  For  some  while 
the  school-room  of  Mrs.  Haygood,on  McDonough 
htreet,  was  occupied  for  religious  services.  After- 
wards, precise  date  unknown,  a  building  lot  was 
purchased  fronting  on  what  is  now  Capitol 
square,  and  a  brick  church  of  antique  style  was 
erected,  named  Trinity,  where  the  congregation 
worshiped  for  many  years,  steadily  growing  in 
wealth  and  numbers. 

The  outcome  of  this  movement  is  now  seen  in 
the  splendid  edifice  which  adorns  the  junction  of 
Whitehall  street  and  Trinity  avenue. 

Brother  Haygood  was  blessed  in  his  domestic  re- 
lations with  a  discreet,]pious  wife,  whose  praise  is 
known  in  both  hemispheres  through  the  worth  and 
work  of  Bishop  Ha\rgood  and  that  extraordinary 
woman,  Miss  Laura  Haygood,  of  our  Chinese  mis- 
sion. This  elect  lady  survived  the  husband  of  her 
youth,  who  went  to   his    heavenly    reward    more 


252  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 


or 

to 


than  thirty  years  ago,  while  the  nation  was  bein 
stricken  with  the  throes  of  a  great  revolution. 
Brother  Haygood  died  as  he  lived,  without  a  blot 

on  his   name,  leaving  but  little  else  than  this  as   a 
heritage  to  his  wife  and  children. 


Y.  L.  G.  HARRIS, 


UTHE    MAN   OF   ROSS." 


This  distinguished  Methodist  layman  was  strik- 
ingly averse  to  newspaper  notoriety. 

As  far  as  practicable  he  hid  himself  from  public 
observation  except  when  duty  called  him  before 
the  footlights.  Then  he  was  self-possessed,  but 
never  self-assertive,  and  impressed  all  classes  by 
his  admirable  bearing  and  excellent  judgment  on 
all  questions  of  general  interest. 

Of  course,  he  was  not  free  from  mistakes,  but 
they  were  usually  on  the  side  of  a  charity  both 
Christly  and  courageous. 

Now  that  he  has  gone  to  his  heavenly  rest  and 
reward  it  is  altogether  proper  that  the  press, 
secular  and  religious,  should  speak  reverently  and 
lovingly  of  his  memory. 

Indeed,  his  life  and  character  furnish  an  object 
lesson  for  the  careful  study  of  a  generation  more 
appreciative  of  intellectual  greatness  than  of  moral 


OF   MINISTERS   AND    LAYMEN.  I_;.")3 

goodness.  It  would,  however,  be  a  grave  error  to 
suppose  that  he  was  deficient  in  culture.  His 
knowledge  of  books  and  men  was  both  exact  and 
extensive,  and  he  had  a  stock  of  reserved  force 
that  availed  him  in  every  emergenc}7  of  his  long 
and  chequered  life. 

In  many  respects  he  was  not  unlike  Samuel 
Budgett,  the  Christian  merchant  of  Bristol,  who 
accumulated  a  princely  fortune  and  whom  an 
English  writer  has  ranked  with  the  great  men  of 
the  present  century. 

We  are  not  at  present  concerned  with  dates  or 
events,  but  purpose  to  speak  of  the  more  striking 
traits  of  his  character.  Not  the  least  of  them  was 
his  methodical  habits  in  both  religion  and  busi- 
ness.   This  was  one  great  secret  of  his  life  success. 

During  the  fifty  }rears  that  he  was  superinten- 
dent of  the  Sabbath-school,  it  is  mathematically 
certain  that  except  in  sickness  or  necessary  ab- 
sence from  the  city  or  intensely  bad  weather,  he 
was  never  five  minutes  late  in  reaching  the  school. 
During  the  nearly  thirty  years  that  he  was  presi- 
dent of  the  Southern  Mutual  Insurance  Company, 
that  from  a  lowly  beginning  he  built  up  into  an  im- 
mense corporation,  he  was  as  punctually  at  his 
desk  as  the  stroke  of  the  University  bell. 

No  one  better  understood  the  value  of  minutes 
and  the  equation  of  time. 


254  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

Of  excellent  social  qualities,  his  engagements  of 
that  sort  were  never  suffered  to  interfere  with  his 
business. 

He  read  the  Scriptures  and  said  his  family  and 
private  prayers  by  the  clock.  This  was  from  no 
love  for  method  for  its  own  sake,  but  because  he 
recognized  its  importance  as  a  means  of  accom- 
plishing the  work  of  the  day. 

Sir  William  Hamilton  attributed  his  success  as  a 
philosopher  to  the  stringency  of  his  method,  and 
Judge  Harris  has  more  than  once  said  to  me  that 
without  it  his  life  would  be  a  failure,  so  many  and 
urgent  were  the  demands  on  his  time. 

But  there  wTas  another  side  to  his  character.  His 
personal  piety  was  of  a  hi^h  order,  and  through- 
out the  fifty  odd  years  of  his  church  membership 
he  enjo3Ted  the  utmost  confidence  of  his  brethren, 
amongst  whom  were  such  men  as  the  Hulls,  the 
Popes,  the  Carltons,  the  Cloptons  and  the  Har- 
rises, of  Athens. 

Judge  Harris  had  in  an  eminent  degree  a  devo  • 
tional  spirit.  He  loved  the  sanctuary  and  its  or- 
dinances as  did  David  and  the  aged  Simeon.  Espe- 
cially did  he  love  theprayer  services,  and  formany 
years  he  was,  in  the  observance  of  them,  the  ac- 
knowledged leader  of  the  midweek  prayer-meeting. 

Few  of  our  ablest  ministers  had  a  better  gift  of 
prayer.  Like  Asbury  Hull,  he  was  a  model  class- 
leader,  and  both  of  them,  although  not  so  desig- 
nated officially,  were  excellent  la3T -preachers. 


OF   MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  255 

In  the  noonday  prayer-meeting,  of  which  Bro. 
Harris  was  the  main  support,  he  very  often  exhib- 
ited rare  ability  as  an  expositor  of  the  Scriptures. 

But  after  all,  his  chief  distinction  lay  in  his 
abundant  charity.  He  was  a  thorough  Methodist, 
and  yet  he  loved  all  the  true  disciples  of  the  Mas- 
ter. Not  a  Christian  in  Athens  of  any  denomina- 
tion but  can  testify  to  this  fact.  No  feature  of  his 
character  has  attracted  more  attention  than  his 
liberal  almsgiving  and  his  large  benefactions  to 
churches  and  colleges.  He  built,  single-handed,  the 
first  Southern  Methodist  church  in  China  at  a  cost 
of  several  thousand  dollars.  From  that  date  he 
went  forward  with  increased  liberality,  building 
other  churches,  endowing  colleges  and  public  li- 
braries, until  it  has  been  estimated  that  in  the  last 
thirty  years  of  his  life  his  contributions  to  public 
and  private  charities  have  aggregated  consider- 
ably more  than  one  hundred  thousand  dollars. 
There  seemed  to  be  no  limit  to  his  generosity. 
While  he  left  an  estate  valued  at  one  hundred 
thousand  dollars,  yet  it  will  be  probably  found 
that  he  has  made  other  bequests  that  have  not 
been  divulged. 

Truly  this  is  a  noble  record,  not  equaled  in  the 
history  of  Georgia.  Having  known  him  for  sixty 
years,  I  can  truthfully  say  that  in  all  the  relations 
of  life  he  was  an  Israelite  indeed  in  whom  there 
was  no  guile. 


256  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

In  the  matter  of  his  deeds  of  charity  he  was  not 
less  self-sacrificing  than  a  noted  layman  whom 
Alexander  Pope,  in  his  "Moral  Essays,"  has  called 
"The  Man  of  Ross,"  and  of  whom  he  has  most 
beautifully  sung  in  this  wise : 

"Who  builds  a  church  to  God  and  not  to  fame, 
Will  never  mark  the  marble  with  his  name; 
Go  search  it  there,  where  to  be  born  and  die, 
Of  rich  and  poor  makes  all  the  history." 


DENNIS  F.  HAMMOND, 

JURIST   AND   LAY   PREACHER. 

This  widely-known  gentleman  was  a  native  of 
South  Carolina,  having  been  born  at  Liberty  Hill, 
inl819.  He  received  a  good  classical  education  at 
Cokesbury,  a  former  educational  center  of  Method- 
ism. At  the  age  of  twenty-one  he  was  admitted 
to  the  bar  at  Newnan,  Ga.,  and  rose  rapidly  in 
the  ranks  of  his  profession. 

In  1844  he  married  Miss  Adeline  Robinson,  a 
daughter  of  Mr.  John  Robinson,  a  prosperous 
planter,  who  long  resided  near  the  present  site  of 
Tallapoosa,  Ga. 

For  twelve  or  more  years  Judge  Hammond  was 
a  most  successful  legal  practitioner,  traveling  the 
circuit  in  the  olden  style,  principally  on  horseback, 
his  saddle-wallets  stocked   with    briefs   and    law 


OF   MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  257 

hooks.  In  after  years  Judge  Hammond  had  many 
a  laughable  story  to  relate  of  his  experiences 
while  making  his  semi-annual  rounds  on  his  cir- 
cuit. 

In  1855  he  was  elected  judge  of  the  Tallapoosa 
circuit,  and  very  soon  acquired  a  reputation  for 
all-round  ability  seldom  equaled  in  the  history  of 
the  Georgia  judicial . 

One  conspicuous  feature  of  his  official  adminis- 
tration was  his  unswerving  integrity  and  his  unfal- 
tering personal  courage  in  the  enforcement  of  the 
law  against  a  class  of  moral  desperadoes  which  at 
one  time  menaced  the  personal  safety  of  the 
bench,  and  at  other  times  kept  even  the  grand 
juries  in  awe. 

An  incident  occurred  while  he  was  presiding  for 
Judge  Joseph  E.  Brown  in  the  superior  court  of 
Paulding  count}%  which  deserves  a  place  amongst 
the  memorabilia  of  criminal  justice  in  the  fifties. 
His  coming  to  the  county  was  hailed  with  delight 
by  the  law-abiding  citizens  of  that  community,  and 
stirred  up  the  worst  element  of  the  population 
with  the  liveliest  apprehensions. 

He  opened  the  term  with  a  charge  to  the  grand 
jury,  the  traditions  of  which  still  abide  with 
the  early  inhabitants  of  that  vicinage. 

He  was  particularly  emphatic  in  his  charge 
against  the  prevalent  practice  of  carrying  con- 
cealed weapons.  He  instructed  the  jury  to  make 
diligent  inquiry  and  true  presentments  against  all 

17 


258  BIOGRAPHIC   ETCHINGS 

such  offenders.  "No  man,"  he  said,  "but  a  low- 
liung  braggart  and  an  arrant  coward  will  turn 
himself  into  a  perambulating  armory  in  the  midst 
of  a  civilized  community,  and  if  such  moral  repro- 
bates are  brought  to  the  attention  of  the  court, 
I  promise  to  execute  the  law  without  fear  or 
favor."  The  whole  charge  was  a  bold  arraign- 
ment of  a  class  that  for  years  had  terrorized  the 
better  class  of  citizens  in  that  county. 

The  clamor  of  the  rabble  was  so  boisterous  and 
threatful  after  the  delivery  of  this  charge,  that 
at  the  close  of  the  morning  session,  when  the 
sheriff  offered  to  escort  him  in  the  usual  waj7  to 
his  hotel,  he  promptly  declined,  saying  with  a 
significant  look,  that  the  court  needed  "no  body- 
guard." 

The  next  day  one  of  the  roughs,  wrhose  case  was 
before  the  grand  jury,  made  an  effort  to  intimi- 
date one  of  the  grand  jurors.  The  matter  was 
reported  to  Judge  Hammond,  who  at  once  ordered 
the  offender  to  be  brought  into  court.  After  a 
quiet  investigation  he  directed  that  the  offender 
pay  a  fine  of  five  hundred  dollars,  and  for  better 
safe-keeping  be  conveyed  to  the  jail  of  Heard 
count}'  for  six  months'  imprisonment.  When  the 
sheriff  suggested  the  probability  of  a  rescue  mob, 
Judge  Hammond  instructed  him  to  secure  a  posse 
of  five  men,  armed  with  double-barrel  shotguns, 
charged  heavily  with  buckshot,  as  an  escort  to 
the  Franklin  jail.    The  judge  emphasized  his  in- 


OF   MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  259 

structions  by  telling  the  sheriff  that  if  he  was 
molested  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties  he  must 
shoot  the  marauders  "until  their  hides  wouldn't 
hold  shucks." 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  the  fine  was  paid  and 
the  full  term  of  imprisonment  served. 

These  stringent  measures  were  equal  to  reading 
the  riot  act  in  Paulding,  and  a  large  petition  was 
prepared  and  presented  to  the  next  legislature, 
asking  that  body  to  annex  Paulding  to  Judge 
Hammond's  circuit. 

This  incident  is  but  a  single  illustration  of 
his  judicial  methods  when  he  was  called  to  deal 
with  rowdyism.  In  the  matter  of  decisions  his 
rulings  in  both  civil  and  criminal  causes  were  al- 
most uniformly  sustained  by  the  supreme  court. 
As  an  evidence  of  his  great  popularity  on  the 
bench  it  deserves  to  be  mentioned  that  he  defeated 
for  the  judgeship  that  able  jurist,  Hon.  Hugh 
Buchanan,  by  an  overwhelming  majority. 

He  resigned,  however,  during  his  second  term, 
preparatory  to  his  removal  to  Atlanta  in  1S62, 
when  he  formed  a  partnership  with  Judge  S.  B. 
Hoyt.  This  law  firm  did  for  years  a  heavy  prac- 
tice, civil  and  criminal.  As  an  advocate  Judge 
Hammond  had  no  superior  at  the  Atlanta  bar. 
When  it  was  known  that  he  was  to  address  the 
court  or  jury  on  any  important  issue,  the  forum 
was  invariably  packed  to  overflowing.  While  he 
was  at  times  strikingly  eloquent,  he  was  uniformly 


260  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

incisive  in  statement,  forcible  in  argument,  and, 
when  the  occasion  demanded,  was  humorous  to  a 
degree  not  excelled  by  any  of  his  legal  contempo- 
raries. We  have  heard  it  stated  that  Judge  Hop- 
kins now  and  then  lost  his  judicial  solemnity,  while 
the  lobby  went  wild  with  uproarious  laughter 
which  neither  the  sheriff  nor  his  bailiff  could 
readily  restrain. 

His  utterance  was  so  rapid  that  no  stenographer 
could  report  his  speeches  or  sermons. 

And  this  brings  us  to  the  observation  that  this 
able  judge  and  advocate  was  for  thirty  years  one 
of  the  best  local  preachers  known  in  the  annals  of 
the  Southern  Methodist  church.  His  blameless 
life  gave  him  the  confidence  of  both  ministry  and 
laity,  and  he  was  heard  everywhere  with  pleasure 
and  profit.  He  was  not  in  sympathy'  with  pro- 
gressive theology,  but  had  a  decided  preference 
for  "old-time  religion."  He  was  most  at  home, 
therefore,  on  a  camp-meeting  platform,  where 
we  have  heard  him  do  some  of  the  best  preaching  to 
which  we  ever  listened .  We  alluded  to  his  impetuous 
delivery .  He  certainly  never  drawled  in  our  hear- 
ing. Indeed,  his  vocabulary  was  exceedingly 
copious,  and  if  the  fitting  word  did  not  come  at 
the  instant  it  was  due,  like  a  sensible  man,  he 
coined  one  for  the  occasion,  and  usually  it  was 
worthy  of  Webster  or  Worcester. 

Not  the  least  beautiful  side  of  Judge  Hammond's 
Christianity  was  seen  in  his  home  life,  where,  like 


OF   MINISTERS   AND    LAYMEN.  261 

the  Master,  be  was,  in  his  humbler  sphere,  prophet, 
priest  and  king.  He  maintained  family  religion 
by  precept  and  example.  Scripture  reading,  song 
and  fervent  prayer  were  familiar  sounds  under  his 
rooftree.  In  all  this  he  had  the  hearty  co-opera- 
tion of  his  excellent  wife.  Is  it  strange  that  his 
children  honor  him  in  the  great  usefulness  of  their 
lives,  and  that  to  them  his  meraory  is  as  fragrant 
as  "ointment  poured  forth?" 

I  ought  sooner  to  have  mentioned  his  single 
term  of  service  as  mayor  of  Atlanta.  In  this  capac- 
ity he  was  the  conservator  of  peace  and  good 
morals,  and  while  he  was  not  autocratic  in  his 
methods,  he  was,  as  when  a  circuit  judge,  a  terror 
to  evil-doers.  This  was  Judge  Hammond's  last 
official  position.  He  continued,  however,  for 
several  years  thereafter  in  laborious  practice, 
much  of  the  time  in  connection  with  his  son,  Judge 
W.  R.  Hammond.  In  1881,  he  removed  to  Orlando, 
Fla.,  mainly  in  search  of  the  balmier  winter 
temperature  of  the  peninsular  state. 

While  there  he  resumed  his  law  practice,  having 
his  youngest  son,  Hon.  Ed.  Hammond,  as  his  as. 
sociate. 

There,  as  already  stated,  his  strength  gave  wray 
under  the  burden  of  threescore  and  ten  years. 

His  remains  were  brought  to  Atlanta,  and  then 
interred  at  his  old  home  in  Newnan  in  the  presence 
of  a  large  concourse  of  his  old  friends.  His  w7ell- 
spent  life  is  a  rich  legacy  to  coming  generations. 


262  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 


GEORGE  T.  QUILLIAN 

Was  one  of  the  most  thoroughly  consistent 
Methodist  laymen  that  I  ever  met  during  the 
whole  period  of  my  active  ministry.  He  was  em- 
phatically a  man  of  pra}rer,  and  while  he  was  a 
frequent  reader  of  religious  books,  his  Bible  was 
his  special  delight. 

Uncle  Billy  Parks  and  Samuel  Anthony  were  his 
pulpit  models,  and  he  was  never  weary  of  talking 
of  their  wonderful  exploits  in  the  heroic  days 
of  Georgia  Methodism. 

During  the  pendency  of  the  civil  war  he  was  a 
gallant  soldier,  noted  for  his  stubborn  fighting 
qualities  when  called  into   action. 

These  traits  of  character  distinguished  him  as 
a  member  of  the  church  militant.  He  endured 
hardships,  and  was  ready  at  all  times  for  faithful 
service  and  personal  sacrifice.  In  his  latter  days 
he  had  many  friends,  amongst  them  Messrs. 
Hunnicut  and  Bellingrath,  who  revered  him  and 
loved  him  and  contributed  much  to  his  comfort 
when  his  health  was  greatly  shattered.  u Uncle 
George"  left  a  name  untarnished  and  a  memory 
dear  to  a  great  multitude  who  knew  his  intrinsic 
worth  as  a  man  of  God,  and  his  incorruptible 
integrity  in  all  his  business  and  social  relations. 


OF    MINISTERS  AND    LAYMEN.  2C8 


DR.  R.  A.  T.  RIDLEY. 

Dr.  R.  A.  T.  Ridley,  of  LaGrange,  was  f or  many 
years  widely  known  in  political  and  professional 
circles,  and  hardly  less  so  as  a  Methodist  official  of 
deserved  prominence. 

He  was  a  native  of  Granville  county,  North 
Carolina,  coming  to  Georgia  in  early  life  and  set- 
tling in  Troup  county,  where  he  was  a  general 
favorite  with  the  inhabitants  of  that  desirable 
portion  of  Western    Georgia. 

For  years  his  medical  practice  was  both  exten- 
sive and  lucrative.  On  various  occasions,  how- 
ever, he  was  somewhat  diverted  from  his  pro- 
fesional  work  by  his  election  to  the  State  legis- 
lature, serving  alternately  with  distinction  in 
both  branches  of  that  important  body. 

As  I  am  advised,  he  was  converted  under  the 
ministry  of  Rev.  James  B.  Payne,  during  a  notable 
revival  in  the  thirties.  He  took  a  lively  interest 
in  the  educational  enterprises  of  LaGrange,  and 
especially  was  he  a  liberal  and  devoted  friend  of 
the  LaGrange  Female  College  when  it  was  strug- 
gling upward  to  its  present  proud  pre-eminence. 

In  politics  he  was  a  pronounced  Whig,  and  a 
fast  personal  friend  of  Ben.  Hill,  with  whom  he 
was  on  terms  of  confidential  intimacv.     When  the 


264  BIOGRAPHIC  ETCHINGS 

civil  war  ended  so  disastrously  to  his  native  South, 
he  was  w7ell-nigh  crushed  in  heart,  as  well  as 
fortune. 

All  through  the  doleful  era  of  reconstruction  he 
suffered  not  less  from  blasted  expectation  than 
from  failing  health.  The  two  combined  gradu- 
ally wrecked  his  once  stalwart  manhood.  His  last 
days  were  deeply  shadowed  except  as  they  were 
brightened  by  the  tender  nursing  of  his  immediate 
family  and  the  sympathy  of  a  large  circle  of 
friends,  who  honored  him  for  his  noble  record  as 
a  Christian  gentleman  and  as  a  faithful  public 
servant. 

His  wife,  nee  Miss  Mar}^  Morris,  who  had  shared 
his  prosperity,  clung  to  him  with  true  womanly 
devotion  in  his  days  of  physical  feebleness  and 
mental  depression. 

My  last  interview  with  him  was  in  one  of  the 
corridors  of  the  old  capitol  in  Atlanta.  He  re- 
marked to  me  that  he  could  hardly  realize  that 
the  piebald  concern  that  occupied  the  senate 
chamber  was  other  than  a  travesty  on  the  Geor- 
gia senate,  when  Andrew  J.  Miller,  Bob  Trippe, 
Ben.  Hill,  Herschel  V.  Johnson  and  men  of  their 
sort  were  the  conscript  fathers  of  the  common- 
wealth." Drs.  Ridley  did  not  linger  long  after  that 
interview.  He  left  three  sons,  Dr.  R.  B.  Ridley,  of 
Atlanta,  and  Dr.  Charles  and  Frank  Ridley,  of 
LaGrange,  who  have  since  been  distinguished  for 
their  professional  skill  and  eminent  civic  virtues. 


OF    MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  265 


FERDINAND  PHINIZY,  ESQ. 

Amongst  1113' earliest  acquaintances  and  staunch- 
est  friends  in  Athens  was  Ferdinand  Phinizy,  Esq., 
a  man  whose  business  record  was  hardly  equaled 
in  the  State.  He  was  a  prosperous  planter, 
prominent  bank  and  railroad  director,  who  accu- 
mulated a  very  large  fortune  by  his  administrative 
ability". 

My  first  intimate  acquaintance  with  him  grew 
out  of  his  serious  affliction  in  the  death  of  his  first 
wife,  a  most  excellent  Christian  mother,  the 
daughter-of  Hays  Bowdre,  Esq.,  of  Augusta    Ga. 

She  was  a  member  of  my  pastoral  charge  at 
Athens,  and  her  sudden  and  unexpected  death  in 
the  summer  of  1863  was  a  severe  shock  to  a  large 
circle  of  friends  in  various  parts   of  the  State. 

Brother  Phinizy  was  well-nigh  crushed  by  this 
domestic  bereavement,  and  during  this  period  we 
were  brought  into  relations  of  tenderness  that 
lasted  until  the  close  of  his  life. 

For  many  years  he  was  a  liberal  supporter  of  the 
Methodist  church,  contributing  largely  to  its 
various  collections.  Besides  his  annual  contribu. 
tion  to  the  conference  claimants,  he  made  frequent 
donations  to  several  of  the  older  preachers  and 
their  families.    These  deeds  of  charity  were  done> 


266  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

however,  without  the    blowing    of    trumpets    or 
similar  Pharisaic  display. 

He  was  a  staunch  advocate  of  old-time  religion 
and  a  pronouced  opponent  to  innovations  on  old 
Methodist  usages.  Bishop  Pierce  was  his  model 
as  a  preacher,  and  between  them  there  existed  a 
most  cordial  intimacy. 

It  is  quite  remarkable  that  he  did  not  unite 
formally  with  the  church  until  a  few  months  before 
his  death.  He  announced  to  me  his  purpose  to 
join  the  church  the  last  time  I  met  him  in  At- 
lanta. For  years  he  had  been  held  back  by  a  sense 
of  personal  un  worthiness.  I  know  that  it  cost  him 
many  a  struggle  before  he  obtained  the  victory 
over  his  doubts  and  fears.  He  said  to  me  in  that 
Atlanta  interview  that  his  long  delay  had  been 
the  mistake  of  his  life.  He  distinctly  realized  that 
he  had  missed  many  golden  opportunities  of 
Christian  usefulness,  but  that  thereafter  he  would 
consecrate  himself  to  the  work  of  the  Master. 
After  all,  his  life  was  one  of  which  his  family  and 
surviving  friends  may  be  proud,  and  his  reward  in 
the  spirit  world  has  doubtless  been  exceeding  great. 


OF   MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  267 


DR.  JOHN  URQUHART. 

Dr.  John  Urquhart,  of  Columbus,  was  a  physi- 
cian of  rare  skill  and  a  Christian  gentleman  of 
proverbial  politeness.  His  wife  was  a  worthy 
helpmeet  to  him  in  both  professional  and  religious 
duties. 

Asa  physician  he  enjo37ed  the  patronage  of  the 
best  circles  of  the  city,  and  yet  he  was  always 
ready  to  serve  the  humbler  classes  as  opportunity 
offered. 

His  characteristic  modest\r  was  a  hindrance  to 
his  efficiency  as  a  Christian  worker.  He  was  not 
so  timid,  however,  that  he  failed  to  bear  witness 
for  Christ,  whether  in  the  class-meeting  or  the 
great  congregation . 

He  was  for  many  j^ears  a  steward  in  St.  Luke's 
church,  and  not  one  of  his  fellow  officials  were 
more  ready  to  devise  liberal  things  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  ministry  and  for  the  usual  conference 
collections. 

Dr.  Urquhart's  wife  preceded  him  to  the  spirit 
world  b\'  several  years.  She  was  a  daughter  of 
General  Shorter,  who  was  prominent  in  the  poli- 
tics of  western  Georgia  while  as  yet  the  Indians 
were  in  possession  of  eastern  Alabama.  Sister 
Urquhart  was  a  gifted  woman,  and  together  with 
Mrs.  Judge  Colquitt,  she  was  ready  for  any  good 


268  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

word  or  work.     Her    last    3'ears    were    spent    in 
suffering  from  a  cancerous  affection. 

After  a  few  3'ears  her  devoted  and  childless  hus- 
band followed  her  to  the  grave  lamented  by  the 
entire  citizenship  of  Columbus. 


DAVID    ROSSER  ADAMS. 

David  Rosser  Adams  was  a  typical  Methodist, 
both  by  inheritance  and  thorough  conviction  of 
sin,  followed  by  an  old-time  altar  conversion.  His 
father  was  a  local  preacher  of  the  best  pattern. 
His  piety  was  approved  by  all  who  knew  him  and 
his  pulpit  gifts  wrere  above  the  average.  His  chil- 
dren, as  far  as  I  have  been  advised,  wrere  consis- 
tent church  members  and  were  of  good  business 
capacity. 

Rosser  Adams,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  a 
leading  churchman,  liberally  educated  and  the 
best  leader  of  congregational  music  I  have  known 
in  all  my  experience.  Several  times  have  I  par- 
taken of  his  hospitality,  and  his  elegant  home  at 
Eatonton  was  a  center  of  taste  and  refinement. 

I  have  seldom  met  in  commercial  circles  his 
equal  in  Biblical  knowledge  and  general  literary 


OF   MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  269 

culture.  His  very  presence  was  imposing,  and  his 
whole  bearing  indicated  that  he  was  one  of  Na- 
ture's noblemen  sanctified  by  divine  grace. 

While  I  had  comparatively  few  opportunities  of 
cultivating  his  personal  aquaintance,  I  am  satis- 
fied that  my  estimate  of  him  will  be  accepted 
amongst  his  fellow-townsmen  who  knew  him 
best  and  longest. 

Our  church  at  Eatonton  is  greatly  indebted  to 
his  strong  common  sense  and  his  blameless  life  for 
the  influence  which  for  more  than  half  a  century 
it  has  wielded  in  that  Middle  Georgia  community. 


EDWIN    M.  PAYNE. 

Edwin  M.  Payne  was  by  birth  a  Virginian  whose 
parents  died  when  he  was  a  small  lad.  He  was 
fortuneless,  but  luckily  not  friendless,  and  by  these 
friends  he  was  apprenticed  under  a  decree  of  the 
pi  obate  court  to  the  cabinet  business.  In  chair- 
building  he  became  an  expert,  and  a  pioneer  citi- 
zen tells  me  that  some  specimens  of  his  handi- 
craft are  still  to  be  found  in  Atlanta  that  are 
more  than  a  half  century  old. 

On  reaching  his  majority  Brother  Payne  came  to 
Georgia,  stopping  for  a  short  time  in  South  Caro- 


270  BIOGRAPHIC     ETCHINGS 

lina,  and  then  settling  in  Newton  county,  where 
he  married  a  Miss  Barnes,  the  mother  of  his  two 
oldest  children.  After  the  death  of  this  wife  of 
his  youth,  he  married  Mrs.  Cureton,  the  mother 
of  that  late  excellent  Christian  ladv,  Mrs.   C.   W 

• 

Hunnicutt,  and  also  the  mother  of  Columbus  D. 
Pa}rne,  one  of  Atlanta's  worthiest  citizens.  He 
was  married  a  third  time  to  Mrs.  Hoyt,  the 
mother  of  Judge  S.  B.  Hoyt,  and  also  of  Mr.  Ed- 
die Payne  of  the  George  Muse  clothing  house. 

Brother  Pavne  came  to  Atlanta  in  1843,  and  was 
active  in  the  construction  of  Wesley  chapel,  the 
mother  church  of  the  city.  He  donated  to  the 
congregation  the  ground  on  which  the  First  church 
now  stands.  That  lot,  at  present  market  valua- 
tion, would  probably  bring  a  round  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars.  Being  a  carpenter  as  well  as  a  chair- 
maker,  he  wrought  at  the  building  of  the  old 
church  like  a  day  laborer,  but  without  fee  or  re- 
ward. Afterwards  he  donated  the  ground  on 
which  Payne's  chapel  and  parsonage  now  stand 
and  contributed  liberally  to  its  erection.  Uncle 
Eddie  was,  indeed,  in  that  generation  a  veritable 
Haggai  without  the  gift  of  prophecy. 

While  this  venerable  gentleman  was  not  deficient 
in  spirituality,  he  had  no  sympathy  with  sour- 
visaged  godliness.  Down  to  his  latest  breath  he 
was  fond  of  a  clean  joke,  and,  like  ancient  Yorick, 
would  often  set  the    table  in  a    roar    of   innocent 


OF   MINISTERS    AND   LAYMEN.  271 

jollity.  He  died  about  1875,  leaving  a  good  record 
and  a  gracious  influence  which  still  abide  upon  his 
descendants  to  the  third  generation.  First  church 
and  Payne's  chapel  are  his  best  monuments. 


ROBERT  BATTEY,  M.  D.,  LL.  D. 

Forty  years  ago,  Robert  Battey,  M.  D.,  LL.  D., 
professed  religion  and  united  with  the  Methodist 
church  at  Rome,  Ga.  This  interesting  event  oc- 
curred in  the  midst  of  a  remarkable  revival  con- 
ducted by  the  late  Rev.D.  D.  Cox,  in  which  he  was 
greatly  helped  by  Drs.  H.  V.  M.  Miller,  W.  H.  Fel- 
ton  and  other  divines  of  lesser  note. 

From  that  time  onward  Dr.  Battev  has  been 
recognized  as  a  leader  in  the  religious  circles  of  the 
Mountain  City,  which  so  snugly  nestles  at  the  junc- 
tion of  the  Etowah  antl  Oostanaula  rivers. 

Few  men  of  the  present  generation  have  been 
more  distinguished  for  a  broad,  Christian  philan- 
throp}'.  Only  a  few  weeks  ago,  he  donated  aAralu- 
able  medical  library  of  one  thousand  volumes  to 
the  State  library  at  the  Georgia  capitol.  For  the 
past  quarter  of  a  century  Dr.  Battey  has  been  a 
surgeon  of  national  reputation,  but  of  later  years 
he  has  achieved  a  world-wide  distinction  as  a 
gynecologist. 


272  BIOGRAPHIC   ETCHINGS 

As  a  specialist  in  normal  ovariotomy  he  has 
won  golden  opinions  from  the  foremost  medical 
faculties  of  both  Europe  and  America.  In  all 
branches  of  abdominal  surgery  he  is  reckoned  as 
an  expert  by  the  best  writers  and  practitioners, 
and  "Battey's  operation"  is  approvingly  discussed 
in  all  the  text-books  of  the  two  hemispheres. 

More  than  two  years  ago  his  health  became  im- 
paired by  the  nervous  tension  consequent  on  inces- 
sant professional  labor,  but  he  has  so  far  re- 
covered that  he  has  partly  resumed  the  personal 
supervision  of  his  large  and  splendidly-equipped 
infirmary  at  Rome.  In  this  arduous  work  he  has 
now  the  earnest  co-operation  of  his  son,  who  has 
inherited  some  of  the  special  gifts  of  his  father. 

In  church  work  Dr.  Battey  is  in  nowise  remiss. 
Indeed,  in  his  social  relations  he  is  an  eminent  ex_ 
ample  to  the  3'ounger  brethren. 

No  worthy  enterprise  of  his  own  or  another  de- 
nomination fails  to  secure  a  generous  response 
when  it  appeals  to  him  for  financial  aid. 

In  his  relations  to  society  at  large  his  deport- 
ment is  such  that  he  is  a  favorite  with  all  classes 
and  conditions.  It  is  to  be  devoutly  hoped  that 
his  life  of  singular  usefulness  will  be  prolonged  to 
full  fourscore  years  without  abatement  of  natural 
strength  and  without  the  usual  experience  of  pain 
or  sorrow. 

His  most  excellent  wife  deserves  a  like  blessed 
experience  for  her  fidelity  and  helpfulness  in  every 
good  work. 


OF    MINISTERS    AND    LAYMEN.  273 


HUBBARD  WOODSON    COZART. 

Hubbard  Woodson  Cozart  was  one  of  the  pio- 
neer Methodists  of  Atlanta.  He  was  the  contem- 
porar3'  of  the  Winships,  Rawsons,  Lawshes, 
Hammonds  and  like  representative  men  of  the 
early  fifties.  Brother  Cozart  emigrated  from 
North  Carolina,  his  native  State,  to  Georgia 
when  a  young  man.  For  quite  a  number  of  years 
he  resided  at  Eatonton,  where  he  accumulated  a 
snug  fortune  in  the  mercantile  business.  His  edu- 
cational advantages  had  been  fairly  good,  but  his 
most  striking  traits  were  his  sterling  ousiness  in- 
tegrity and  his  unswerving  devotion  to  the  church. 

Besides  these  good  qualities  he  had  a  large  stock 
of  common  sense  that  made  him  a  safe  counselor 
in  all  the  relations  of  life. 

He  had  but  little  patience  with  men  who  did 
not  pay  their  debts,  and  yet  he  was  likewise  a 
man  of  large  liberality  to  the  church  and  to  all 
worthy  objects  of  charity. 

As  a  steward  and  class-leader  he  was  untiring, 
and  always  enjoyed  the  implicit  confidence  of  his. 
pastors  and  of  his  brethren. 

He  had  a  hearty  relish  for  wit  and  humor,  and 
his  anecdotes,  which  were  alwa}'S  clean  and  yet 
piquant,  made  him  a  favorite  in  social  circles. 

His  domestic  life  was  not  without  its  shadows, 
but  it  was  marked  by  the  presence  and  power  of 

18 


274  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

religion    and    a    hospitality    that    endeared    him 
alike  to  rich  and  poor. 

In  all  this  his  excellent  wife  was  a  helpmeet  after 
the  pattern  of  those  godly  women  of  whom  fre- 
quent and  honorable  mention  is  made  in  the  Scrip- 
tures. 

All  through  the  trying  war  period  his  patriot- 
ism was  unshaken  by  the  adversities  which  befell  his 
beloved  Southland,  and  while  himself  too  infirm 
for  militai}7  service,  his  heart  and  hand  were  open 
to  the  bo}^s  in  gray. 

His  wife  and  daughters,  especially  Mrs.  Harral- 
son  and  Mrs.  Bass,  were  active  workers  in  the 
hospitals  of  the  city. 

Brother  Cozart  died  soon  after  the  surrender  at 
Appomattox,  beloved  and  honored  by  all  his  fel- 
low-citizens who  were  so  fortunate  as  to  know 
him  and  his  manner  of  life. 


JAMES  M.  BEALL. 

James  M.  Beall  will  be  kindly  remembered  by 
every  Methodist  pastor  who  has  been  stationed 
in  LaGrange  during  the  last  forty  years. 

His  wife,  a  daughter  of  Maj.  George  Heard, 
was  one  of  the  most  devout  Christian  matrons  of 
her  generation.     To  her  he  was    greatly    indebted 


OF    MINISTERS    AND  LAYMEN.  275 

for  his  personal  piety  and  his  thorough  devo- 
tion to  the  church.  Brother  Beall  was  a  man  of 
excellent  judgment,  of  sterling  business  integrity, 
and  the  most  uniform  attendant  on  the  social 
meetings  of  the  church  that  I  have  known  during 
my  long  pastoral  experience. 

Unless  for  strictly  providential  reasons  he  was 
never  absent  from  the  midweek  prayer-meeting 
or  the  quarterly  love-feast. 

As  a  steward  he  looked  closely  after  the  collec- 
tions, and  was  always  in  full  sympathy  with  the 
pastor  and  his  family. 

He  had,  indeed,  a  kind  word  for  his  preacher  at 
all  times,  and  as  a  patient  and  intelligent  hearer 
of  the  gospel  he  had  few  equals.  Naturally  of  a 
phlegmatic  temperament,  he  was  less  aggressive 
than  some  of  his  official  brethren,  but  could  be  re- 
lied upon  in  ever\^  emergency. 

One  feature  of  nis  work  deserves  special  men- 
tion. He  is  entitled  to  more  credit  than  any  one 
man  to  the  present  existence  of  the  LaGrange  Fe- 
male College.  He  was  not  so  large  a  contributor 
to  its  treasury  as  some  others,  but  he  never  failed 
to  do  the  best  that  he  could  according  to  his 
means.  In  the  darkest  hour  of  its  history  he  wTas 
unshaken  in  his  loyalty  to  the  college,  and  it  was  a 
gracious  Providence  that  spared  him  to  see  its 
rehabilitation,  which  was  accomplished  in  the  face 
of  no  little  adverse  criticism. 


276  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

A  most  beautiful  trait  in  his  character  was  his 
devotion  to  the  memory  of  his  wife,  a  woman  of 
rare  excellence  as  a  wife  and  mother.  Through 
years  of  loneliness  he  cherished  the  memory  of  her 
virtues,  and  when  he  lay  down  in  death  by  her 
side  he  was  the  same  as  when  he  led  her  to  the 
bridal  altar. 


N.  C.  BARNETT. 

Col.  N.  C.  Barnett  was  during  much  of  his  long 
life  a  prominent  State  official.  He  served  under  not 
less  than  a  half -score  of  gubernatorial  adminis- 
trations as  keeper  of  the  great  seal  of  the  Com- 
monwealth, a  special  function  of  the  secretary  of 
state. 

Such  was  the  clearness  of  his  official  record  and 
the  uprightness  of  his  private  life  that  he  was 
spoken  of  in  the  highest  and  humblest  political 
circles  as  "honest  Nathan." 

He  was  a  nephew  of  the  great  William  H. 
Crawford,  whose  fame  extended  through  both 
hemispheres.  Not  less  than  Ben  Franklin  or  Tom 
Jefferson  he  was  the  idol  of  the  French  people, 
and  but  for  a  paralytic  stroke  he  would  have  been 
the  presidential  successor  of  James  Monroe. 


OF   MINISTERS   AND  LAYMEN.  277 

My  first  intimate  acqaintance  with  Col.  Barnett 
began  during  ray  pastorate  at  Milledgeville,in  1 S60. 
The  strength  and  influence  of  that  once  strongest 
station  in  Georgia  had  greatly  declined  since  its 
pulpit  was  occupied  by  Capers  Howard,  Lovick 
Pierce  and  other  notabilities.  During  that  year, 
howrever,  it  was  blessed  with  a  memorable  re- 
vival, and  from  that  date  it  has  advanced  to  one 
of  the  leading  appointments  of  the  North  Georgia 
Conference. 

Col.  Barnett  wras  a  man  of  courtly  address,  of 
liberal  culture  and  strongly  wedded  to  old-time 
Methodism.  He  kept  his  Christian  reputation 
untarnished  until  his  closing  days,  and  it  may  be 
truthfully  said  that  both  politically  and  ecclesias- 
tically he  died  in  the  harness. 

No  little  of  his  success  in  life  was  due  to  his  wTife, 
a  daughter  of  Dr.  David  Cooper,  a  veteran  of  the 
second  British  war  and  a  former  superintendent 
of  the  State  lunatic  asylum.  Mrs.  Barnett  still 
survives,  greatly  beloved  by  a  large  number  of 
her  old  friends  of  earlier  davs. 


RICHARD  LANE. 

Hon.  Richard  Lane,  the  venerable  uncle  of  Broth- 
ers Richard  and   Sterling  Harwell,  was   a    good 
man  and  true  in  the  best  sense  of  that  often  misap- 
plied phrase.    Brother  Lane  started  in  life  as  a  vil- 


278  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

lage  merchant,  but  nearly  sixty  years  ago  he  was 
chosen  clerk  of  the  superior  court  of  Troup  coun- 
ty, in  which  position  he  remained  until  his  re- 
moval to  Walker  county,  in  Northwestern  Geor- 
gia. He  purchased  a  large  and  most  valuable 
tract  of  land  in  McLemore's  Cove,  and  in  a  few 
years  he  erected  a  strikingly  handsome  residence, 
where  he  enjoyed  every  comfort  that  wealth  and 
ample  means  could  procure. 

Here  he  remained  until  he  was  forced  to  refugee 
by  the  incoming  of  the  Yankee  armies  to  the  balm- 
ier regions  of  Southern  Georgia.  On  one  or 
more  occasions  Judge  Lane,  as  he  was  usually 
called,  represented  his  fellow-citizens  in  the  State 
legislature,  for  which  position  he  was  admirably 
fitted  because  of  his  rare  stock  of  "horse  sense." 

In  his  political  views  he  was  conservative,  and 
yet  no  man  was  more  thoroughly  committed  to 
the  Southern  movement  by  word  and  deed. 

As  a  churchman  he  was  modest,  but  his  purse 
was  always  open  to  the  legitimate  demands  of 
the  church.  He  contributed  at  various  times 
thousands  of  dollars  to  church  enterprises,  and  his 
hospitality  was  unstinted.  On  two  occasions 
when  I  was  serving  a  district  he  carried  me  thirty 
and  forty  miles  to  quarterly  conferences.  These 
special  occasions  he  greatly  enjoyed,  chiefly  the 
love-feast  and  the  Lord's  supper.  In  these  jour- 
neyings  his  favorite  horse,  " John,"  furnished  the 
motive  power.    He  seemed    to    be    as  careful    of 


OF   MINISTERS*  AND  LAYMEN.  279 

John's  comfort  as  of  his  own.  I  think  that  in  his 
last  will  he  provided  for  the  rest  and  provender  of 
this  faithful  steed.  This  may  seem  a  small  affair, 
but  it  had  a  significance  worthy  of  note,  according 
to  the  plain  meaning  of  the  Scriptures. 

This  dear  old  brother  was  not  a  critical,  but  a 
sympathetic  hearer  of  the  gospel.  Very  often  he 
would  give  expression  to  his  approval  of  a  state- 
ment or  sentiment  of  the  pulpit,  not  in  an  audi- 
ble way,  but  by  a  significant  nod  of  his  gray 
head.  To  me  this  characteristic  plaudit  was  a 
stimulant  and  an  inspiration.  I  felt  quite  sure  that 
I  was  not  far  wrong  in  my  theology  when  Uncle 
Dick  endorsed  it  after  that  manner.  His  afflicted 
wife,  who  was  the  joy  and  comfort  of  his  old 
age,  survived  him  but  a  few  years,  and  then  re- 
joined him  in  the  home  of  many  mansions. 


JOSEPH  A.  EVE,  M.  D. 

Joseph  A.  Eve,  M.  D.,  was  a  distinguished  and 
eminently  pious  official  member  of  St.  John's 
church,  of  Augusta,  Ga.  Like  St.  Luke,  he  was  a 
''beloved  physician,"  and  the  homes  of  the  poor, 
as  well  as  of  the  rich,  were  gladdened  by  his  pro- 
fessional visits. 

For  very  many  years  he  was  an  honored  profes- 
sor in  the  Georgia  Medical  College,  and  was  quite 
a  favorite  with  the  faculty  and  the  large  classes 


280  BIOGRAPHIC   ETCHINGS 

of  students  that  nocked  to  that  widely-known  in- 
stitution. 

In  social  life  he  was  aifable  and  polite  beyond 
almost  any  man  of  my  past  acquaintance.  He 
was  generous  in  his  support  of  the  church,  and 
charitable  in  his  gifts  to  all  in  distress.  It  was, 
however,  in  the  domestic  circle  that  his  character 
shone  brightest.  His  devotion  to  the  comfort 
and  happiness  of  his  household,  including  the  serv- 
ants, was  boundless. 

Not  more  blessed,  in  a  religious  sense,  was  the 
house  of  Obededom,  which  for  months  was  the 
dwelling-place  of  the  ark  of  the  covenant  before 
its  final  removal  to  the  tabernacle  which  David 
had  erected  on  Mount  Zion. 

Dr.  Eve  was  not  demonstrative  in  his  piet}r."  On 
the  contra^,  he  was  reticent  on  the  subject  of  his 
personal  experience,  and  was  seldom  heard  in  the 
assemblies  of  the  church.  But  his  pastors  and  his 
brethren,  and  indeed,  the  whole  citizenship  of 
Augusta,  knew  the  excellence  of  his  character  and 
the  blessedness  of  his  life. 

As  far  as  the  heavy  demands  of  a  very  large 
practice  would  allow,  he  was  a  faithful  attendant 
on  the  services  of  the  sanctuary.  Especially  did 
he  prize  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  supper,  and 
it  seldom  occurred  in  the  course  of  a  long  lifetime 
that  he  was  absent  from  its  monthly  administra- 
tion. St.  John's  church,  from  the  earliest  times, 
never  had  a  more  worthv  communicant. 


OF    MINISTERS    AND    LAYMEN.  1>  1 


ASBURY  HULL. 

Hon.  Asbury  Hull,  of  Athens,  was  the  eldest  son 
of  Rev.  Hope  Hull,  one  of  the  great  lights  of  Geor- 
gia Methodism  in  the  earlier  years  of  the  present 
century. 

Brother  Hull  and  his  younger  brother  were  edu- 
cated at  Franklin  College,  and  were  both  for  many 
years  closely  identified  with  the  fortunes  of  their 
alma  mater. 

Dr.  Hull,  who  filled  the  chair  of  mathematics, 
was  a  gentleman  of  rare  ability,  but  modest  al- 
most to  a  fault. 

Asbury  was  better  fitted  for  public  life,  and  his 
political  career  was  an  honor  to  himself  and  a 
blessing  to  the  State.  When  I  first  knew  him  he 
was  approximating  the  prescribed  limits  of  hu- 
man life,  and  in  a  measure  had  withdrawn  from 
business  activities,  except  as  they  related  to  the 
management  of  the  Southern  Mutual  Insurance 
Company  and  his  own  private  estate.  He  was 
still,  however,  in  church  affairs,  full  of  zeal  and 
energy.  In  some  important  departments  of 
church  work  he  was  an  acknowledged  leader.  He 
was  wise  in  counsel  in  quarterly  conference 
matters,  and  his  opinions  were  sought  after  and 
nearly  always  deferred  to  by  his  brethren,  and  yet 


282  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

he  was  in  nowise  aDiotrephes  who  aspired  to  pre- 
eminence. 

He  had  in  large  measure  the  gifts  of  prayer  and 
exhortation.  He  was  often  invited  to  lead  the 
devotions  of  the  congregation,  and  in  this  service 
he  never  failed  to  be  fervent  and  edifying.  In  the 
class-meeting  his  hortatory  gift  was  remarkable 
for  its  quickening  and  impressive  qualities.  In 
all  these  respects  he  w7as  perhaps  the  equal  of 
Carvosso  and  kindred  celebrities. 

His  domestic  life  was  singularly  fortunate.  His 
children  were  amongst  Georgia's  best  citizens,  and 
his  bachelor  son,  William  Hope  Hull,  wTas  almost 
without  a  peer  at  the  Georgia  bar. 

He  was  twice  married.  His  first  wife,  the  mother 
of  his  children,  was  a  woman  of  piety  and  culture. 
His  second  wife,  whom  I  knew  quite  well,  was 
worthy  to  share  his  heart  and  hand  and  to  be  the 
mistress  of  his  delightful  home. 

Brother  Hull,  from  my  earliest  acquaintance 
with  him,  w^as  robust  in  figure  and  seemed  to  be 
in  vigorous  health  to  his  dying  day. 

Indeed,  his  departure  was  sudden  and  unlooked 
for.  He  had  just  finished  the  family  devotions, 
and  was  seated  in  his  study  reading  his  morning 
lesson  out  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  when  suddenly 
God  touched  him,  and  he  fell  asleep  in  Jesus.  He 
had  often  expressed  a  desire  to  die  the  death  of 
the  righteous,  and  his  wish  was  graciously  granted 
him. 


OF   MINISTERS   AND  LAYMEN.  283 

He  seemed  to  have  passed  away  without  a  pang 
or  a  struggle,  with  possibly  the  utterance  of  a 
single   unconscious  groan. 

I  was  indebted  to  him  for  many  kindnesses,  and 
I  shall  alwa3Ts  cherish  and  revere  his  precious 
memory. 


WILLIAM   EZZARD. 

Hon.  William  Ezzard  was  one  of  the  purest  of 
men.  As  was  said  of  Nathanael,  he  was  "an  Israel- 
ite, indeed,  in  whom  there  was  no  guile."  My  per- 
sonal knowledge  of  him  went  back  to  my  boy- 
hood, and  when  far  advanced  in  years,  I  was  one 
of  several  of  his  former  pastors  w7ho  officiated  at 
his  funeral. 

In  the  legal  profession  he  won  a  conspicuous 
position,  serving  for  at  least  one  full  term  as  a 
judge  of  the  superior  court.  In  this  high  office  he 
so  demeaned  himself  as  to  enjoy  the  confidence 
of  the  bar  and  the  warmest  respect  of  witnesses 
and  suitors.  As  steward  and  class-leader  in  the 
First  Methodist  church,  he  was  surpassed  by  none 
of  his  contemporaries  in  fidelity  and  practical 
ability. 

In  his  latter  years  he  was  elected  to  important 
municipal  and  count\r  offices,  and  through  them 
all  retained  the  cordial  esteem  of  his  fellow-citizens 


284  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

of  all  classes  and  creeds.  Indeed,  the  man  who 
would  have  impugned  the  integrity  or  worthiness 
of  Judge  Ezzard  would  have  been  scouted  from 
decent  society. 

We  but  voice  the  sentiment  of  every  former  pas- 
tor of  the  First  Methodist  church,  when  we  say 
that  this  model  Christian  gentleman  was  in  his 
moral  make-up  one  of  the  grandest  men  whose 
name  adorns  the  annals  of    Atlanta    Methodism. 


FIELDING  DILLARD. 

"Uncle"  Fielding  Dillard,  as  he  was  best  known  in 
his  latter  vears,  was  a  man  whom  I  honored  and 
loved  at  first  sight.     When   an  invalid   agent   for 

• 

the  Orphans'  Home,  I  was  cordially  received  one 
Saturday  afternoon  at  the  country  residence  of 
Dr.  Hutchinson,  another  most  excellent  Methodist 
of  the  old  school.  On  the  next  day  I  had  a  pleas- 
ant jaunt  with  the  doctor  to  Cherokee  Corner, 
where  I  met  a  fine  congregation,  composed  of 
many  of  the  best  people  of  that  vicinage.  They 
had  but  slightly  rallied  from  the  disasters  of  the 
war  and  the  reconstruction  period,  but  they  re- 
sponded liberally  to  my  appeal  in  behalf  of  our  Con- 
ference orphanage.  None  were  more  in  sympathy 
with  this  splendid  charity  than  " Uncle"  Fielding. 
His  contribution,!  think,  was  twenty  dollars;  a 
large  sum  for  that  day  of  small  things,  when  the 


OF   MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  285 

institution  was  struggling  for  existence  against 
\er}'  heavy  odds. 

God  be  praised  that  through  the  labors  of 
Brothers  Jones  and  Crumley  it  has  reached  a  large 
and  wealthy  place  compared  with  its  straitened 
condition  when,  for  three  years,  Brother  Lupo  and 
myself,  he  as  superintendent  and  I  as  agent,  were 
rowing  against  wind  and  tide.  I  never  at  an}r 
time,  however,  lost  faith  in  its  ultimate  success, 
and  rejoice  exceedingly  in  its  present  prosperity. 

But  to  resume  our  account  of  Brother  Dillard. 
He  was,  perhaps,  the  worthiest  patriarch  of  a 
tribe,  who  have  a  good  record  in  the  annals  of 
Georgia  Methodism.  May  the  tribe  increase  un- 
til they  shall  become  more  widely  diffused  amongst 
the  ministry  and  membership  of  the  two  Georgia 
Conferences. 

If  they  all  should  share  largely  in  the  gifts  and 
graces  of  this  noble  ancestor  they  "shall  neither 
be  barren  nor  unfruitful  in  the  knowledge  and 
love  of  God." 


EMANUEL  HEIDT. 

Rev.  Emanuel  Heidt  sprung  from  the  Salzburgers 
who  colonized  parts  of  Effingham  and  Emanuel 
counties  early  in  the  last  century.  They  were  a 
pious  generation  and  partook  in  a  degree  of  the 


286  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

German  mysticism,  of  which  Count  Zinzendorf 
and  Herman  Franke  were  conspicuous  representa- 
tives. 

Brother  Heidt  for  many  years  was  a  prominent 
business  man  of  Savannah,  and  a  ruling  spirit  in 
Methodist  circles,  first  at  Old  Wesley  chapel  and 
afterwards  at  Trinity  church.  He  was  an  ardent 
admirer  of  the  old  Savannah  pastors,  especially 
George  Pierce,  Alfred  Mann  and  W.  H.  Potter. 

As  a  local  preacher  he  was  both  active  and 
efficient  in  his  ministry. 

He  likewise  did  much  to  consolidate  and  enlarge 
Methodism  in  that  beautiful  "city  by  the  sea," 
which  struggled  hard  for  many  years  against  the 
preponderant  influence  of  Episcopalianism  and 
Independentism,  before  it  secured  a  permanent 
foothold. 

Rev.  T.  T.  Christian,  who  knew  him  well  in  his 
latter  years  speaks  of  him  as  a  preacher  every- 
where acceptable,  alike  for  his  gifts  and  graces. 
He  was  a  contemporary  and  intimate  personal 
friend  of  Rev.  James  E.  Godfrey,  who  was  a  lay 
preacher  of  considerable  distinction. 

Rev.  Dr.  John  W.  Heidt,  one  of  the  foremost 
preachers  of  the  North  Georgia  Conference;  in- 
herited not  a  few  of  his  best  qualities  from  this 
noble  ancestor,  who  years  ago  went  away  to  the 
home  of  the  angels  and  the  abode  of  glorified 
spirits,  made  perfect  through  the  discipline  of  suf- 
fering, and  clean  through  the  blood  of  sprinkling. 


OF   MINISTERS   AND    LAYMEN.  287 


FRANK  M.  RICHARDSON. 

Isaac  Taylor  once  wrote  a  life  of  John  Wesley, 
as  also  did  Robert  Southev,  both  of  them  some- 
what  lacking  in  reverence  for  that  great  reli- 
gions reformer  of  the  18th  centnry .  Taylor  likewise 
wrote  "A  History  of  Natural  Enthusiasm,"  in 
some  respects  a  better  publication. 

Frank  Richardson  belonged  to  this  class  of  en- 
thusiasts, especially  in  Sunday-school  work  on 
the  outskirts  of  the  city.  He  had  a  warm  heart 
for  the  poor,  and  as  far  as  he  had  means  and  op- 
portunities, he  relieved  their  wants.  As  a  business 
man  he  was  industrious,  but  never  achieved  marked 
success. 

We  are  almost  tempted  to  say  that  humanly 
speaking  he  gave  too  much  of  his  time  to  charit- 
able enterprises.  He  was  in  his  local  sphere  a 
church  extension  board  before  David  Morton  had 
projected  his  great  scheme  for  building  churches 
and  furnishing  parsonages. 

St.  Paul's,  Evans  chapel,  Pierce  chapel,  the  bar- 
racks mission,  and  kindred  organizations  through- 
out the  city  felt  the  impress  of  his  fostering  hand. 

But  we  prefer  to  quote  from  a  recent  article  of 
Bishop  Haygood  in  the  columns  of  the  Wesleyan. 
Before  doing  this,  however,  I  will  indulge  in  a  rem- 
niscence  of  the  early  ministry  of  "Atticus"  as  his 


283  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

venerable  father  delighted  to  call  him.  I  was 
residing  in  North  Atlanta  and  having  heard  many 
favorable  accounts  of  his  preaching,  I  determined 
to  hear  him  for  myself.  The  place  was  "Old 
Trinity,"  the  time   was  the    summer  of  1865. 

I  arrived  just  in  time  to  hear  his  text  indicating 
a  discussion  of  "Endless  Punishment."  It  was 
forceful  from  the  beginning  to  the  close. 

After  service  he  voluntered  to  walk  with  me  by 
the  way.  Just  before  we  separated  hesaid,  "Broth- 
er Scott,  you  are  an  older  preacher  than  myself 
and  I  would  be  pleased  if  you  would  tell  me  if  you 
observed  any  serious  defects  in  my  matter  or  man- 
ner." I  replied  that  it  was  rather  an  ungracious 
task  to  criticize  the  preaching  of  a  brother  minis- 
ter. 

He  rejoined  that  he  was  not  a  bit  sensitive  and 
that  he  had  yet  a  great  deal  to  learn.  I  answered 
that  I  enjo3^ed  the  sermon  no  little  from  its  be- 
ginning to  its  close,  that  his  argument  was  all 
right,  but  would  suggest  that  if  he  was  more  careful 
in  placing  his  emphasis  on  the  right  word  his 
preaching  would  be  more  effective.  After  two 
or  more  illustrations  of  my  exact  meaning,  he 
thanked  me  for  my  suggestions  and  said  he  hoped 
to  profit  by  them.  Two  or  three  years  after- 
wards I  heard  him  again  at  the  First  church,  Dr. 
Harrison  and  myself  sitting  together  in  the  front 
pew.  The  misplacement  of  the  emphasis  had 
ceased  to  be  noticeable.    Both  of  us  then  realized 


OF    MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  289 

that  he  was  already  far  on   the  way  to   the  great 
distinction  which  he  has  since  fairly  won. 

As  germane  to  our  theme  we  cull  the  following 
notice  of  Brother  Richardson  from  a  late  contri- 
bution of  Bishop  Haygood  to  the  Wesleyan  : 

"When  Bishop  Pierce — from  the  Athens  Confer- 
ence—January, 1865,  sent  "Sandy"  Thigpen 
(one  of  the  best  and  truest  of  men)  to  Wesley 
chapel  (now  First  church),  and  me  to  Trinity,  I 
found  Frank  Richardson  ready  to  help  me. 

Old  Trinity  was  packed  full  of  furniture,  left 
by  the  people  who  were  sent  away.  He  helped 
me  move  and  provide  for  that  till  the  owners 
came  again.  There  were  fifteen  people  at  the  first 
Sunday  morning  service.  He  started  the  Sunda\T- 
school  with  half  a  dozen  children.  Howhe  worked 
to  build  up  the  dismembered,  scattered  church — 
full  of  faith  and  ze^l  and  all-conquering  hope — 
only  a  few  survive  to  tell. 

"What  work  he  did  for  the  Trinit}'  Sunda3r-school 
in  later  years  many  know.  But  that  did  not 
satisfy  him.  Under  some  trees  on  Fair  street — 
hard  by  a  confederate  hospital  shed,  one  sum- 
mer evening,  my  old  friend  helped  start  St.  Paul's 
in  a  Sunday-school.  My  China  sister  was  of  the 
little  company.  Miss  Sterchi — a  godly  Moravian 
— was  another.  Mrs.  Miller,  nee  Miss  Sallie 
Thomas,  another.  And  his  energy  was  in  the 
movement  that  regathered  and  built  up  again 
"Evans  chapel"    (named  for  Wm.  H.  Evans,  who 

19 


290  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

went  to  heaven  in  a  minute  in  Oxford,  July  20, 
1870 — apoplexy  opening  the  golden  gate  for  him), 
now  "  Walker  Street"  church.  And  in  "Trinity 
Home  Mission"  he  labored  after  the  same  style. 
And  in  other  localities  and  in  all  ways  possible  to 
him  to  the  end.  He  earned  a  great  deal  of  money, 
but  made  no  fortune.  He  gave  to  men — so  giving 
to  God — with  the  heart  and  hand  of  a  prince, 
when  he  had  anything  to  give.  When  he  could 
not,  his  heart  was  sore  and  sick.  It  cannot  be 
questioned  that  God  used  him  to  save  the  souls 
and  better  the  lives  of  thousands  of  people.  They 
will  not  build  monuments  of  marble  or  bronze 
to  perpetuate  his  memory.  It  is  not  necessary ; 
his  place  is  secure.'' 


BARNARD  HILL. 

When  I  was  yet  a  youth,  but  a  member  of  the 
legal  profession  by  a  special  enactment  of  the 
State  legislature,  I  made  the  personal  acquaint- 
ance of  this  learned  jurist. 

As  I  remember,  he  was  a  New  Englander  by 
birth,  classically  educated,  and  of  unblemished 
moral  character. 

He  was  not  reckoned  a  brilliant  advocate,  but 
was  highly  esteemed  as  a  jurisconsult,  and  when 


OF   MINISTERS    AND    LAYMEN.  291 

subsequently  promoted  to  the  bench,  he  was  re- 
garded as  one  of  our  wisest  circuit  judges.  He 
was  in  excellent  repute  as  a  temperance  leader,  and, 
I  believe,  at  one  time  was  at  the  head  of  the  order 
of  the  Sons  of  Temperance,  that  noble  brotherhood 
which  did  a  vast  deal  to  inaugurate  a  healthful 
public  sentiment  on  the  liquor  issue  throughout 
the  State.  For  many  years,  however,  we  resided 
in  different  parts  of  the  State,  so  that  in  his  latter 
days  I  had  but  little  personal  knowledge  of  him. 
He  died,  however,  as  he  had  lived,  a  consistent 
churchman. 

His  brilliant  son,  Hon.  W.  B.  Hill,  inherited  not 
a  few  of  his  best  qualities.  The  late  Chief  Justice 
Bleckley  said  to  me  not  long  ago  that  this  son 
was  one  of  the  best  equipped  lawyers  of  the 
Georgia  bar. 


SAMUEL  JONES. 

This  Methodist  patriarch,  whose  recent  death  is 
still  fresh  in  the  memory  of  hundreds  of  friends, 
deserves  a  niche  in  this  memorial  volume.  As  is 
well-known,  he  was  the  father  of  Col.  R.  H.Jones, 
a  good  Confederate  fighter,  and  for  a  number  of 
years,  an  efficient  pastor  of  the  conference,  but 
now  disqualified  by  a  chronic  disease  of  the  throat. 


292  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

Father  J  ones  will  be  long  remembered  as  the  grand- 
father of  Rev.  S.  P.  Jones,  the  far-famed  evan- 
gelist. The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  for  many 
years  an  excellent  lay  preacher.  His  preaching  was 
uniformly  good  to  the  use  of  edifying.  Both  in  his 
domestic  and  social  relations,  he  was  a  great  fa- 
vorite. Throughout  his  long  and  useful  life,  he  ac- 
complished great  good,  especially  in  the  rural 
districts,  as  a  champion  of  "old-time  religion." 
Like  Daniel,  he  will  "stand  in  his  lot  at  the  end  of 
the  davs." 


SOME    PERSONAL    RECOLLECTIONS. 

From  the  earliest  settlement  of  the  three  counties 
of  Troup,  Harris  and  Muscogee,  they  have  been 
noted  for  their  excellent  citizenry.  A  majority 
of  these  settlers  were  from  Greene,  Morgan,  Put- 
nam and  Warren  counties.  In  the  main  thev 
were  Methodists  of  the  Wesleyan  type  in  their  re- 
ligious characteristics,  and  wliigs  in  their  political 
affinities. 

Most  of  them  had  enjo^-ed  fair  scholastic  ad- 
vantages, but  not  many  of  them  were  classically 
trained. 


OF   MINISTERS  AND    LAYMEN.  208 

Amongst  them  were  the  Hurts,  Joneses  and 
Flewellens,  of  Muscogee— the  Osborns,  Doziers, 
Bedells,  Pollards  and  Mobleys,of  Harris— the  Har- 
rises, Coxes,  Turners,  Ferrells,  Maddoxes  and  Ster- 
lings, of  Troup.  Of  these  sturdy  farmers  we  desire 
to  make  special  mention  of 

EDWARD  MADDOX. 

This  venerable  gentleman,  the  father  of  Col. 
Robert  F.  Maddox,  a  distinguished  capitalist  of 
Atlanta,  and  one  of  the  most  public-spirited  of  its 
many  leading  citizens,  was  a  thorough  Methodist, 
although  free  from  sectarianism  in  an  offensive 
degree. 

He  was  an  ^indefatigable  Bible  student— a  class- 
leader  of  much  local  celebrity — a  model  steward, 
who  devised  liberal  things  for  pastor  and  family 
— a  church  attendant,  not  only  on  the  Sabbath, 
but  when  duty  required,  on  week  days  as  well, 
when  he  stopped  the  plows  in  the  furrow,  and 
the  servants  scrubbed  up  and  went  to  preaching. 

In  the  household  he  was  both  priest  and  king, 
officiating  at  the  home  altar  in  the  morning  and 
evening  devotions,  in  which  he  had  the  earnest  co- 
operation of  his  pious  wife.  He  ruled  his  house- 
hold, but  not  with  a  rod  of  chastisement,  for  "the 
law  of  kindness  was  on  his  tongue;"  and  yet  he 
was  reverenced  by  every  inmate  of  the  family. 


294  BIOCxRAPHIC   ETCHINGS 

I  lis  hospitality  was  proverbial,  and  many  a 
wayfaring  man,  especially  the  itinerant  preacher, 
found  a  gracious  welcome  at  his  threshold.  This 
trait  of  his  character  was  transmitted  to  his  sons 
.'ind  daughters.  His  oldest  son,  Col.  R.  F.  Mad- 
dox,  is  one  of  the  few7  Methodist  laymen  of  the 
Georgia  Conferences  who  has  made  a  single  dona- 
tion of  one  thousand  dollars  to  the  beneficiaries 
of  his  church,  the  principal  of  which  is  to  be  kept 
intact,  and  only  the  interest  annually  expended 
for  the  relief  of  the  poor. 

Well  may  it  be  said,  "I  have  never  seen  the 
righteous  forsaken  nor  his  seed  begging  bread." 


"  UNCLE  REUBEN  MOBLEY," 

As  he  was  affection atefy  styled  Iry  the  3rounger 
generation,  was  a  solid  planter  of  the  same  class 
whom  we  knew  in  our  boyhood. 

He,  too,  was  a  Methodist  of  the  best  stamp,  who 
practiced  household  religion,  and  could  sing 
" Amazing  Grace"  from  a  camp-meeting  altar 
with  as  much  zest  as  the  best  of  his  tribe. 

He  was  the  father  of  a  large  family,  of  whom 
Hon.  James  M.  Mobley  is  most  widety  known. 
For  fifty  years  this  able  jurist  has  been  conspic- 
uous alike  as  a  Methodist  and  Mason. 

During  several  terms  of  service  he  was  Grand 
Master  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Georgia,  and    like 


OF   MINISTERS   AND    LAYMEN.  295 

Dawson,  Rockwell,  and  Lawrence,  was  well-skilled 
in  the  lore  of  ancient  craft  masonry.  Although 
now  advanced  in  years,  his  natural  force  is  not 
abated  so  as  to  disqualify  him  for  his  professional 
duties. 

We  must  needs  have  a  warm  side  for  this  fel- 
low law  student  in  the  law  office  of  Col.  Wm.  B. 
Pry  or  more  than  a  half  century  ago.  Our  fervent 
desire  and  prayer  is  that  he  ma}'  still  long  abide 
as  a  blessing  to  the  church  and  the  county  that 
he  has  served  so  faithfully  from  his  vouth. 


"UNCLE  DICK  DOZIER." 

"Uncle  Dick  Dozier"  was  another  representative 
Methodist  of  the  old  school  who  had  a  pleasant 
farmhouse  in  the  southeastern  part  of  Harris 
county.  His  wife,  who  was  as  devout  as  Hannah, 
the  mother  of  Samuel,  was  wonderfully  endowed 
with  the  gift  of  prayer.  At  the  camp-meeting  it 
was  no  unusual  thing  for  her  to  lead  the  devotions 
of  the  vast  congregation  at  the  eleven  o'clock 
service.  Her  voice  was  musical,  with  a  ringing 
resonance  that  could  be  heard  to  the  outskirts  of 
the  large  encampment. 

She  was  a  veritable  helpmeet  to  her  husband, 
and  the  two  reared  several  intelligent  sons  who 
have  been  a  blessing  to  church  and  State.  Their 
descendants,  all  of  whom,  as  far  as  I  am  advised, 
are  good  citizens,  are  either  Methodists  or  Pres- 
byterians. 


29(3  BIOGRAPHIC   ETCHINGS 


FRANK  COOK. 

Another  good  layman  and  local  preacher  of  that 
period  was  Rev.  Frank  Cook,  who  was  born  in 
Camden,  South  Carolina,  in  1798.  He  resided 
likewise  for  some  years  in  Harris  county,  but  af- 
terwards removed  to  Culloden,  Monroe  county. 
This  venerable  man  was  honored  in  his  generation 
for  his  good  preaching  ability  and  his  thorough 

piety. 

His  children  and  grandchildren  are  in  high  re- 
pute in  the  ranks  of  Southern  Methodism.  It  was 
my  privilege  to  visit  him  in  his  last  illness  at 
Marietta,  and  talk  and  pray  with  him  almost  in 
his  dying  hours. 

These  four  godly  men,  Maddox,  Mobley,  Dozier 
and  Cook,  and  others  besides,  were  of  a  class  of 
men  who  deserve  to  be  remembered  through  all 
generations.  May  their  tribe  increase  in  our 
spiritual  Israel. 


OF   MINISTERS    AND   LAYMEN.  297 


GUSTAVUS  J.  ORR,  LL.  D. 

THE    GREAT    SCHOOL    COMMISSIONER. 

I  gravely  question  whether  during  the  experi- 
ences of  a  lifetime  neither  short  in  its  duration 
nor  uneventful  in  its  opportunities  of  wide  observa- 
tion, I  have  ever  known  a  truer  man  than  he 
whose  name  heads  this  sketch.  In  his  personality 
Dr.  Orr  was  a  compound  of  brawn  and  brain. 
Both  in  his  physical  and  mental  make-up  he  was 
characterized  by  strength  and  symmetry. 

Our  personal  intimacy  was  close  and  largely 
confidential,  especially  in  his  latter  years,  when  he 
held  the  position  of  state  school  commissioner. 

I  more  than  once  said  to  him  that  we  rarely  dif- 
fered on  any  moral  or  political  issue,  except  when 
we  touched  on  the  Blair  bill,  which  he  cordially 
approved,  and  which  I  as  heartily  condemned.  In 
our  private  conversations  he  sometimes  had  much 
to  say  of  his  college  life  at  Mary ville,  Tennessee, 
and  at  the  University  of  Georgia,  where  he  was 
the  classmate  of  a  number  of  distinguished  Geor- 
gians. Afterwards  he  graduated  at  Emory  Col- 
lege, where  he  secured  the  second  honor,  although 
first  in  his  class-standing. 

On  other  occasions  he  made  me  acquainted 
with  his  chequered    religious   experience,    the    de- 


298  BIOGRAPHIC  ETCHINGS 

tails  of  which  were  strikingly  unique  and  thor 
oughry  interesting.  Long  after  his  official  connec- 
tion with  the  church  he  was  greatly  perplexed 
about  the  evidences  of  Christian ity,  but  when  the 
question  wTas  settled  it  was  a  finalit}7.  Hence- 
forth he  was  never  troubled  with  unbelief,  and 
his  religious  peace  flowed  like  a  broad  and  bound- 
ing river.  We  used  to  say  to  him  that  in  many  re- 
spects he  had  shared  the  experience  of  the  great 
and  good  Chalmers,  wrho,  in  the  early  years  of  his 
ministry,  was  buffeted  with  doubts  and  harassed 
by  fears,  but  afterwards  became  the  mighty  thun- 
derer  of  the  Tron  church  at  Glasgow. 

Dr.  Orr  occupied  several  prominent  places  in 
connection  with  his  lifelong  educational  work. 
For  quite  a  number  of  }rears  he  was  an  honored 
professor  of  Kmory  College.  At  another  time  he 
wras  elected  to  a  professorship  in  Oglethorpe  Uni- 
versity, a  Presbyterian  institution.  Yet  again  he 
was  chosen  president  of  the  Masonic  Female  Col- 
lege, at  Covington.  But  the  last  sixteen  years  of 
his  life  were  devoted  to  the  duties  of  state  school 
commissioner  of  Georgia.  Dr.  Orr  is  entitled  to 
the  credit  of  whatever  of  excellence  in  the  way  of 
arrangement  and  equipment  may  pertain  to  our 
public  school  system.  He  found  it  in  a  chaotic 
condition,  and  in  spite  of  discouragement  from 
ever\r  quarter,  he  placed  it  on  a  sure  footing  and 
started  it  on  a  career  of  prosperity  wrhich  in  a  few 
years  will  root  out  illiteracy  amongst  both  races. 


OF    MINISTERS    AND   LAYMEN.  299 

We  must  not  be  understood,  however,  as  sanc- 
tioning the  obvious  inequalities  of  the  system  as  it 
is  even  now  organized. 

The  vast  amount  of  money  abstracted  from  the 
State  treasury  for  the  education  of  the  negro  at 
the  expense  of  the  white  tax-payers,  is  a  shame- 
ful injustice  to  the  whites  and  an  equivocal  bene- 
fit to  the  negro. 

Instead  of  lessening  the  percentage  of  crime 
amongst  our  negro  population,  it  seems  rather  to 
increase  it.  This  result  indicates  that  there  is 
something  radically  wrong  in  the  system  itself  or 
in  its  administration.  Perhaps  the  evil  lies  in 
both  directions.  So  far  the  outcome  warrants  the 
statement  that  the  negro  needs  moral  training 
far  more  than  the  drill  of  schools  or  colleges. 

When  every  State  is  suffered  to  control  the  mat- 
ter for  itself,  aside  from  federal  dictation,  then 
these  evils  may  be  in  part  or  in  whole  materially 
remedied. 

But  we  find  ourselves  digressing  and  return  to 
the  proper  matter  of  this  personal  sketch. 

Dr.  Orr  did  much  valuable  church  work  as  an 
official  of  Evans  chapel.  His  piety  was  of  the 
primitive  type,  not  lacking  in  earnestness,  but 
still  conservative  in  its  tone  and  trend.  He  set 
great  store  by  Bible  reading  and  home  training. 

In  his  domestic  relations  he  was  a  model  hus- 
band and  father.  He  was  conciliatory,  yet  firm, 
in  the  administration  of    family  discipline,  which 


300 


BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 


secured  him  alike  love  and  respect  from  the  entire 
household. 

In  social  matters  he  was  wise  in  counsel  and 
conservative  in  action,  and  it  is  but  sober  truth  to 
say  that  he  was  universally  beloved  and  esteemed. 

His  glorification  occurred  in  1887,  and  shortly 
thereafter  impressive  memorial  exercises  were 
held  at  Evans  chapel.  A  large  concourse  was 
present,  embracing  representative  people  from 
several  of  the  city  churches.  This  writer  esteemed 
it  no  small  distinction  to  be  invited  to  take  part  in 
these  services,  and  spoke  in  substance  what  is  con- 
tained in  this  brief  .tribute. 

Take  him  all  in  all  we  shall  not  soon  look  upon 
his  like  asrain. 


l&' 


Here  we  close  our  etchings  of  noted  laymen. 
We  regret  the  necessity  for  omitting  such  names 
as  Hon.  N.  T.  Hammond,  Hon.  John  L.  Hopkins, 
both  illustrious  at  the  bar  and  wherever  they 
have  been  called  to  serve;  Hon.  T.  M.  Meri- 
wether, a  model  farmer  and  wise  legislator;  Col. 
N.  Trammell,  ex-president  of  the  senate  and 
present  chairmam  of  the  railroad  commission ;  Hon . 
Steve  Clay  and  others  of  like  distinction.  I  trust 
some  future  "Old  Mortality"  will  supply  my  lack 
of  service,  growing  out  largely  from  recent  ill- 
health. 


OUR 
SENIOR  BISHOP. 


OF   MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  303 


JOHN  C.  KEENER, 

SENIOR  BISHOP   OF   THE   METHODIST    EPISCOPAL   CHURCH, 

SOUTH. 

To  those  who  are  even  but  slightly  familiar  with 
the  story  of  American  Methodism,  we  need  not 
say  that  Baltimore  is  not  less  the  Methodistic 
than  the  Monumental  City.  It  was,  indeed,  the 
birthplace  of  organic  Methodism  in  the  western 
hemisphere.  For  while  Methodist  societies  had  been 
gathered  in  many  of  the  original  thirteen  colonies 
prior  even  to  the  War  of  Independence,  yet  these 
societies  were  feeble  and  lacking  in  any  proper 
bond  of  organic  union.  The  treaty  of  Versailles 
had  severed  them  from  the  Methodism  of  the 
mother  country,  and  they  were  verily  as  sheep  with- 
out a  shepherd.  It  was  the  fatherly  solicitude  of 
Mr.  John  Wesley  for  these  scattered  sheep  of  the 
American  wilderness  that  induced  him  in  one  re- 
spect to  depart  from  the  usage  of  the  English  es- 
tablishment. It  was  to  meet  what  he  esteemed  a 
grave  providential  emergency  that,  in  1784,  he  or- 
dained Thomas  Coke,  a  presb\rter  of  the  church  of 
England,  to  the  episcopal  office,  at  the  same  time 
empowering  and  instructing  him  to  set  apart 
E  rands  Asbury  to  the  like  function  and  ministry. 

This  plan  of  Mr.  Wesley's  meeting  with  the  ap- 
proval of  the  first  general  conference,  which  met 
at  Baltimore  in  December,  1784,   was  the  formal 


304  BIOGRAPHIC     ETCHINGS 

inauguration  of  Methodist  Episcopacy,  not  only  in 
America,  but  in  the  world. 

These  facts  constitute  Baltimore  the  cradle  of 
American  Methodism.  Here  was  fairly  launched 
that  denominational  system,  which  has  contribu- 
ted more  than  its  full  share  of  money  and  effort 
towards  the  evangelization  of  this  vast  continent. 
Its  first  missionaries  trod  closely  on  the  heels  of 
the  adventurous  pioneer.  Before  the  close  of  the 
eighteenth  century  these  missionaries,  who  were 
in  a  higher  sense  than  the  followers  of  Spotts  wood, 
the  Knights  of  the  Golden  Horse  Shoe,  had  crossed 
the  Alleghanies,  penetrated  the  wilds  of  the  Hol- 
ston  country,  encamped  on  the  dark  and  bloody 
ground  of  Kentucky,  and  carried  the  gospel  into 
the  regions  beyond  the  Father  of  Waters.  They 
had  no  equipment  of  spear  or  sword,  but  armed 
with  Bible  and  saddle-bags,  these  cavaliers  went 
forth  on  their  mission  of  mercy. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  identified  both  by 
birth  and  blood  with  this  early  generation  of 
Methodists,  having  been  born  in  the  city  of  Balti- 
more, of  Methodist  stock  and  German  ancestry  in 
1819.     ' 

When  quite  a  lad  he  was  placed  by  his  father  in 
a  classical  school  at  Wilbraham,  Mass.,  under  the 
management  of  Dr.  Wilbur  Fisk,  a  man  of  rare 
gifts  and  graces,  who  was  subsequently  elected  to 
the  episcopac3r,  which  office,  however,  he  promptly 
and  persistently  declined. 


OF   MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  305 

Finishing  his  academic  course,  young  Keener  was 
transferred  to  the  newly-established  Wesleyan 
university,  at  Middletown,  Conn. 

While  yet  at  the  immature  age  of  sixteen  years 
he  was  graduated  in  the  first  class  that  issued  from 
that  institution  in  1835. 

We  know  nothing  of  the  details  of  his  earlier 
life,  after  graduation,  except  that  he  embarked  in 
the  drug  business  in  his  native  city,  and  some  years 
thereafter  held  a  creditable  position  as  a  wholesale 
druggist. 

While  thus  engaged  he  was  brought  under  deep 
religious  impression,  which  resulted  in  his  con- 
version and  public  profession  of  the  Christian 
faith.  Conversion  in  those  days  meant  something 
more  than  moral  reformation.  In  most  instances 
it  was  preceded  by  conviction  sharp  as  a  sword 
thrust  and  bitter  as  the  "grapes  of  Sodom"  and 
the  "vintage  of  Gomorrah."  After  this  travail  of 
soul,  very  often  of  a  week's  or  a  month's  continu- 
ance, there  came  a  sunburst  of  joy  and  gladness 
that  made  an  abiding  impress  on  character  and 
destiny.  Bishop  Keener's  conversion,  as  to  thor- 
oughness at  least,  was  of  this  sort,  and  almost 
simultaneously  with  this  transformation  of  life 
and  character  there  came  likewise  a  divine  call  to 
the  arduous  work  of  the  Christian  ministr}^. 
Without  irreverent  haste,  and  yet  without  con. 
ferring  with  flesh  and  blood,  he  addressed  himself 
to  his  life  work.     About  1843  he  was   admitted 

Oo 


806  BIOGRAPHIC   ETCHINGS 

into  the  Alabama  Conference,  where  he  continued 
for  the  next  five  years,  meanwhile  filling  ministerial 
positions  of  greater  or  lesser  responsibility. 

His  transfer  to  the  Louisiana  Conference  at  the 
close  of  1848  was  something  of  a  crisis  in  his 
ministerial  life.  For  long  years  the  Southwest  had 
been  the  battle  ground  of  the  evangelical  churches. 
When  first  visited  by  the  Methodist  itinerant  it 
was,  indeed,  the  "wild  west."  At  a  later  period 
that  whole  region  was  overrun  by  various  forms 
of  infidelity,  and  even  flagrant  immorality,  which 
had  intrenched  themselves  at  New  Orleans  and 
other  strategic  points.  To  this  field  Keener  went 
in  the  full  maturity  of  his  intellectual  vigor  and  of 
his  physical  prowess.  The  climatic  conditions  of 
the  Crescent  Citv  were  unfavorable  to  health. 
These  conditions  had  been  aggravated  by  imper- 
fect sanitation.  The  tone  of  fashionable  society 
was  in veterately  opposed  to  an  earnest  religionism. 
x\loreover,  such  popular  vices  as  gambling,  horse 
racing  and  dueling  were  current  in  what  was  usu- 
ally styled  the  best  circles.  Superadded  to  this 
demoralization  there  was  an  intense  worldliness 
begotten  of  aggregated  wealth  and  its  consequent 
luxury.  These  agencies  of  evil  were  to  be  con- 
fronted and  conquered.  For  this  arduous  work 
Keener  was  fortunately  well-equipped.  In  its 
prosecution  he  was  from  time  to  time  greatly 
helped  by  such  fellow  laborers  as  J.  B.  Walker,  Dr. 
Linus  Parker  and  the  late  Bishop  McTyeire.    These 


OF   MINISTERS    AND    LAYMEN.  307 

men  were  of  divers  gifts,  but  of  one  aim  and  pur- 
pose, and  the  results  of  their  joint  labors  are  not 
yet  fully  realized.  It  is  but  sheer  justice  to  say 
that  in  all  the  elements  of  ministerial  efficiency 
Bishop  Keener  was  the  equal  of  the  foremost. 
Both  as  stationed  preacher  and  as  presiding  elder 
of  the  New  Orleans  district,  he  was  greatly  useful 
and  greatly  beloved  through  a  term  of  twelve 
years. 

At  this  juncture,  his  pastoral  work  was  inter- 
rupted by  the  civil  war.  Early  in  the  contest,  the 
city  was  occupied  by  the  Federal  army,  and  then 
followed  the  reign  of  terror  under  the  Butler 
regime.  The  future  bishop  had  fully  identified 
himself  with  the  fortunes  of  his  native  South, 
whether  for  weal  or  woe.  He  therefore  withdrew, 
or  rather,  was  thrust  from  the  city,  and  was  ap- 
pointed superintendent  of  chaplains  of  the  Trans- 
Mississippi  department.  In  this  new  field,  he  was 
diligent  and  painstaking  in  the  discharge  of  his 
responsible  duties,  and  speedily  won  the  respect 
and  confidence  of  the  general  officers  of  the  Con- 
federate army.  He  shrunk  from  no  sacrifice  and  no 
peril,  whether  in  field  or  camp,  and  by  his  public 
ministration  and  his  private  counsel,  contributed 
greatly  to  improve  the  morals  of  the  armies  of  the 
West.  Amidst  these  scenes  of  strife,  he  learned  a 
lesson  of  endurance;  yet  never,  for  a  single  instant, 
did  his  patriotic  devotion  suffer  any  abatement  or 
exhibit  any  shadow  of  turning.      During  the  resi- 


308  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

dence  of  Dr.  Keener  at  New  Orleans,  he  acquired  no 
little  reputation  as  a  graceful  and  humorous 
writer,  by  the  publication  of  a  small  volume,  en- 
titled "Post-Oak  Circuit."  The  secret  of  its  author- 
ship, however,  was  for  some  years  concealed  from 
the  general  reading  public.  In  this  volume,  he  dis- 
cussed in  a  terse,  and  at  times  philosophical  wa}r, 
the  "ups  and  downs"  of  Methodist  itinerancy. 
Some  of  its  portraits  of  both  laity  and  clergy  have 
become  historical,  and  will  linger  after  he  himself 
has  gone  to  his  final  reward.  As  an  occasional 
contributor  to  the  church  press,  he  was  already 
widely  and  favorably  known.  Partly  for  these 
reasons,  the  General  Conference  of  1866,  held  in 
New  Orleans,  recognizing  his  fitness  for  the  posi 
tion,  elected  him  to  the  editorship  of  the  New  Or- 
leans Christian  Ad  voeate.  We  were  then  in  the  midst 
of  the  dark  days  of  reconstruction,  when  our 
church  editors  needed  prudence,  quite  as  much  as 
learning.  Dr.  Keener  was  in  no  wise  deficient  in 
that  cardinal  virtue.  It  was  a  time  also  when 
those  who  molded  public  opinion  must  have  cour- 
age, as  well  as  capacity.  Whilst  there  were  not  a 
few  time-serving  ecclesiastics,  who  were  disposed 
to  enact  the  role  of  Addison's  "Vicar  of  Bray," 
he  kept  his  honor  virgin,  and  his  loyalty  to  his 
section  and  church  untarnished.  Ready  at  all 
times  for  the  broadest  fraternity  compatible  with 
proper  self-respect^he  was  unalterably  opposed  to 
a   temporizing  policy-,   which    might  lead   to   the 


OF   MINISTERS   AND  LAYMEN.  309 

ultimate  impairment  of  the  autonomy  of  the 
Southern  church.  Upon  other  great  issues,  which 
arose  during  his  editorial  term  of  service,  he  was 
not  less  judicious  and  outspoken. 

Nor  is  it  strange  that  at  the  meeting  of  the 
General  Conference  at  Memphis,  in  1870,  he  was, 
by  the  voice  of  the  church,  summoned  to  a  yet 
higher  position  by  his  election  to  the  episcopacy- 
As  one  of  the  chief  pastors  of  Southern  Method- 
ism he  has  grown  steadily  in  public  favor,  and 
now,  after  twenty -five  years  of  continuous  toil  and 
travel,  he  enjoys  the  unbounded  confidence  of  his 
colleagues  and  of  the  church  at  large.  In  this  high 
position,  as  in  others  less  notable,  he  has  shown 
himself  a  man  of  affairs,  capable  of  planning 
great  church  enterprises  and  guiding  them  to  a 
satisfactory  consummation.  Perhaps  the  best 
single  illustration  of  this  statement  is  seen  in  his 
inauguration  of  what  is  known  as  the  Central  Mex- 
ican mission.  In  1870  Bishop  Marvin  projected  a 
Mexican  border  mission,  an  enterprise  small  in  its 
beginnings  which  has  been  gradually  enlarged  in 
its  geographical  area.  It  now  reaches  from  the 
Rio  Grande  to  Monterey  and  other  capitals  of  sev- 
eral northern  states  of  our  sister  republic.  In  1873, 
Bishop  Keener,  after  careful  prospecting,  secured 
for  Alejo  Hernandez  and  his  followers  a  perma- 
nent foothold  in  the  ancient  city  of  the  Aztecs.  So 
that  the  land  of  Anahuac,  where  Cortez,  with  the 
aid  of  the  faithful  Tlascalans,  planted  in  triumph 


310  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

the  standard  of  St.  Jago,  may  ere  long  become  a 
stronghold  of  Protestantism .  At  first  the  Meth- 
odists and  other  Protestant  missionaries  were  op- 
posed with  great  bitterness,  and  in  a  few  outlying 
localities  were  foully  butchered  by  the  Mexican 
rabble.  It  has  happened,  however,  as  in  many  in- 
stances, that  the  blood  of  the  martyrs  has  been 
the  seed  of  the  church.  Under  the  wise  adminis- 
tration of  President  Diaz  religious  liberty  is  guar- 
anteed and  practically  enforced.  The  Methodists 
and  some  other  Protestant  churches  are  multiply- 
ing their  converts  by  the  hundreds.  Through  their 
united  agencv  Mexico  will  soon  cease  to  be  the  land 
of  revolutions,  and  will  become  stable  and  pros- 
perous. With  the  smaller  details  of  his  office  and 
work,  we  are  not  at  present  concerned.  From 
that  point  let  it  suffice  to  say  that  no  charge  of 
maladministration  has  ever  been  preferred  against 
this  eminent  servant  of  the  church.  As  a  presiding 
officer,  both  in  Annual  and  General  Conferences,  he 
ranks  with  the  best  the  church  has  known  during 
the  hundred  years  of  its  history.  As  president  of 
the  General  Conference,  he  is  always  an  imposing 
figure.  He  has  what  some  one  has  called  the  "true 
nobleman  look,"  and  yet  there  is  nothing  impe- 
rious in  his  manner,  but  quite  enough  of  dignity 
to  command  the  respect  of  the  largest  deliberative 
body.  Only  less  skilled  in  parliamentary  law  than 
the  late  Bishop  McTyeire,  he  is  prompt  and  almost 
uniformly  correct  in  his  decisions.     After  all,  it  is 


[  OF   MINISTERS   AND   LAYMEN.  811 

in  the  pulpit  that  Bishop  Keener  is  seen  to  the  best 
advantage.  He  is  no  phrase  monger,  nor  does  he 
affect  mere  elegance  of  speech.  He  brings  no  un- 
beaten oil  into  the  sanctuary,  but  on  the  contrary, 
thoroughly  digests  the  subjects  which  he  attempts 
to  handle,  and  whilst  he  is  fluent  in  a  remarkable 
degree,  he  never  substitutes  flippanc\r  of  phrase  for 
force  of  reasoning.  It  has  been  my  rare  good  for- 
tune to  hear  him  almost  a  score  of  times  on  spe- 
cial occasions,  which  have  called  forth  his  utmost 
strength.  At  one  district  conference  some  years 
ago  I  listened  to  him  with  intense  interest  on  three 
consecutive  days.  These  sermons  were  on  the  great 
themes  of  the  gospel,  and  they,  one  and  all,  fairly 
bristled  with  points  and  throbbed  with  the  puls- 
ings of  the  highest  inspiration.  After  the  lapse  of 
these  years  I  cannot  now  recall  very  much  of  any 
one  of  these  masterly  discourses,  but  the  impres- 
sions produced  still  abide,  as  a  perpetual  benedic- 
tion on  heart  and  head.  In  1874,  in  Walnut  Street 
Baptist  church,  Louisville,  Ky.,  I  heard  from  the 
bishop  a  Sunday  morning  sermon  which  was  in 
no  wise  inferior  to  such  pulpit  masterpieces  as 
Bishop  Soule's  ' 'Law of  Liberty"  or  Bishop  Mar- 
vin's wonderful  sermon  on  the  text,  "What  is  Man 
That  Thou  Art  Mindful  of  Him?"  His  theme  was 
"The  Inexorableness  of  Law."  The  basis  of  the 
transcendant  discourse  was  the  parable  of  the 
rich  man  and  Lazarus,  wherein  the  great  teacher 
lifts  for  an  instant  the  curtain  that  hides  the  spirit 


312  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

world,  and  shows  us  things  that  may  shortly 
come  to  pass  in  our  own  personal  experience.  As 
expounded  by  the  bishop,  his  audience  was  brought 
face  to  face  with  the  stupendous  verities  of  reve- 
lation. I  remember  his  saying,  at  least  in  sub- 
stance, that  the  inscription  over  the  gateway  of 
Dante's  Inferno,  "Abandon  hope  all  ye  that  enter 
here,"  did  not  so  freeze  the  blood  as  the  rich  man's 
prayer  out  of  the  belly  of  hell :  ' '  Father  Abraham , 
send  Lazarus,  that  he  may  dip  his  finger  in  water 
and  cool  my  parched  tongue,  for  I  am  tormented 
in  this  flame."  At  another  time  he  spoke  of  the 
majesty  of  the  divine  law,  which  was  in  very  truth 
the  "voice  of  God  and  the  harmony  of  the  uni- 
verse." And  then  as  he  spoke  of  the  thunders  of 
that  violated  law  it  almost  seemed  that  the  vast 
audience  vibrated  from  side  to  side  as  if  they  could 
hear  the  veritable  thunderings  and  lightnings  of 
Sinai,  when  the  sacred  mountain  trembled  under 
the  footsteps  of  legislative  God.  He  urged  in  con- 
clusion with  much  insistence  that  heaven  and  hell 
are  not  the  outcome  of  a  divine  decree,  whether  of 
election  or  reprobation,  but  rather  a  result  of  a 
divine  law  which  is  as  inexorable  in  its  ongoing  as 
the  fate  of  the  Greek  tragedy — aye,  more,  as  in- 
flexible as  the  throne  of  God  itself. 

Let  not  the  reader  infer  that  his  utterances  are 
all  of  this  sulphurous  flavor,  or  that  he  deals 
chiefly  even  with  the  sterner  aspects  of  theology. 
There  are  occasions,  when   describing  the  joy   of 


OF   MINISTERS   AND  LAYMEN.  313 

conscious  pardon  or  the  blessedness  of  a  still  riper 
Christian  experience,  that  his  manner  is  almost 
womanly  in  its  tenderness.  At  these  times  his  fitly 
spoken  words  move  his  audience  to  tears  and  not 
infrequently  rouse  them  to  an  outburst  of  hosan- 
nahs  and  hallelujahs.  Again  he  discusses  the  ab- 
struser  doctrines  of  Christianity  with  a  logical 
clearness  and  impressiveness  that  would  do  no 
discredit  to  Robert  South  or  Isaac  Barrow. 
Bishop  Keener,  after  twenty  years  of  Episcopal 
service,  is  now  the  senior  bishop  of  his  church,  and 
by  virtue  of  this  official  seniority,  is  the  connecting 
link  between  Wilson,  Granberry,  Hargrove,  and 
others  of  the  present  bench,  and  their  great  pred- 
ecessors, Wightman,  Pierce,  Marvin,  and  their 
glorified  associates.  Apparently  he  is  still  in  vigor- 
ous health — almost  robust  in  his  physique — and 
has  the  promise  of  another  decade  of  usefulness. 
During  the  late  General  Conference  he  bore  the 
heat  and  burden  of  the  session  with  no  signs  of 
physical  or  intellectual  weakening.  His  sermon 
preached  in  Centenary  church,  St.  Louis,  at  the  or- 
dination of  Bishops  Haygood  and  Fitzgerald,  is 
regarded  by  high  authority  as  his  level  best.  It 
will  be  in  order,  therefore,  to  incorporate  into  this 
sketch  one  or  two  extracts  from  this  published 
sermon. 


314  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 


THE    DIVINE    SONSHIP. 


"We  must  rise  into  the  grandeur  of  His  sonship 
invested  as  it  now  is  with  every  attribute  of  divine 
life.  And  that  image  of  death,  which  ere  while 
He  showed  'in  the  body  of  His  flesh  through 
death'  is  there,  enveloped  in  the  shroudings  of 
majesty,  and  amid  an  all-surrounding  ocean  of  in- 
telligent being. 

" These  are  the  points,  the  axes  of  the  divine 
ellipse,  about  which  all  the  universe  of  salvation 
revolves. 

"The  Holy  Spirit  draws  upon  this  perfected  glori- 
fied victim ;  this  constitutes  the  treasury  deep  and 
high  from  which  He  enriches  the  world. 

"It  is  not  merely  that  the  life  is  translated  into 
us,  but  we  into  a  boundless  kingdom  of  life ;  a 
kingdom  'within'  in  the  sense  of  being  spiritual, 
but  not  in  the  sense  of  limitation. 

"The  clear  apprehension  of  this  'adoption'  was 
the  beginning  of  the  Wesley  an  revival.  Ever  since 
that  notable  month  of  May,  1738,  when  the  two 
Wesleys,  Charles  and  John,  were  converted;  when 
the  anthem  at  St.  Paul's,  'Out  of  the  Deep  Have  I 
Called  Unto  Thee,  O  Lord,'  and  when  at  Alder- 
gate  street  Luther's  preface  to  the  Romans  fell 
upon  the  ear  and  heart  of  John  Wesley,  this  tide 
of  glory  has  steadily  risen.     Long  since  it  should 


OF   MINISTERS    AND    LAYMEN.  315 

have  been  felt  in  every  frith  of  human  life,  as  it 
has  been  held  in  the  empires  of  the  orient,  and 
amid  the  starrv  isles  of  the  Pacific. 

' '  May  yon,  my  brethren  beloved ,  never  be  wanting 
in  a  strong,  healthy,  positive  utterance  of  this 
doctrine  of  life.  May  no  refinement  of  thought 
or  sentiment  be  permitted  to  minify  the  one 
sublime  truth  of  justification  by  faith,  or  the  true 
nobility  of  a  conscious  sonship,  testified  by  the 
Holy  Spirit  to  the  heart  of  the  believer.  So  shall 
our  bow  abide  in  strength,  and  our  beloved  Meth- 
odism shall  continue  to  be  in  the  future  as  in  the 
past,  a  blessing  of  God  upon  the  world." 

These  extracts,  better  than  anything  we  can 
say,  will  convey  to  the  reader  an  idea  rather  in- 
adequate of  his  pulpit  style.  It  was,  likewise,  the 
official  duty  of  Bishop  Keener  to  respond  to  the 
various  fraternal  messengers  from  England,  Can- 
ada, and  the  Northern  Methodist  church.  In  the 
performance  of  this  pleasing  duty,  the  senior 
bishop  was  peculiarly  felicitous.  Especially  was 
this  true  of  his  response  to  the  delegates  repre- 
senting the  Wesley  an  connection  of  the  mother 
country,  and  the  delegate  from  the  Northern  Meth- 
odist church.  There  was,  in  both  of  these,  a  blend- 
ing of  the  choicest  humor,  and  the  purest  good 
sense,  and  this  was  a  happy  exchange  for  the  tra- 
ditional gush,  not  to  say  rodomontade,  that  very 
often  mars  these  platform  fraternal  addresses,  and 
the  average   episcopal  responses.     Organic  union 


316  BIOGRAPHIC    ETCHINGS 

may  be  said  to  have  died,  not  amidst  a  shower  of 
tears,  but  amidst  a  buzz  of  ill-suppressed  laughter. 
Whilst  Bishop  Keener  is  not  a  politician,  he  is,  in 
its   best    sense,   a   Christian  statesman  j^and   al- 
though,   as  frequently  stated,  in  sympathy  with 
Methodist  fraternity,  on  a   self-respecting  *basis, 
he  is,  in  common  with  the  great  body  of  our  min- 
istry and   laity,  thoroughly   averse  to  the  unifica- 
tion of  the  two  Methodisms.     He  still  has  a  lively 
recollection  of  General  Banks'   special   order  No. 
15,  issued  at  New  Orleans, in  November,  1863.   B37 
this    militarv    order,    everv  Southern    Methodist 
church  in  that  department   was  virtually  confis- 
cated.   Nor  has  he  forgotten  the  order  of  Stanton, 
secretary    of    war,    under  cover  of  which  Bishop 
Ames,  of  the  Northern  Methodist  church,  followed 
by  a  troupe   of  Northern  preachers,  proceeded  to 
administer  on  the  estate  of  the  Southern  church. 
Some  of  these  intruders  held  on  to  their  ecclesias- 
tical position  to  the  last  possible  moment.   Bishop 
McTyeire,  who  was  cognizant  of  all  the  facts,  has 
written  that  the  Carondolet  Street  church,  formerly 
served  by  Bishop  Keener,  was  recovered  barely  in 
time  for  the  session  of  the  General  Conference  of 
1866.     As  might  be  supposed,   these  lurid   mem- 
ories may  have  suggested  to  the  senior  bishop  that 
not  only  was  organic  union  a  thing  not  to  be  de- 
sired,  but  that  fraternity  itself,  as  usually   dis- 
coursed of  on  General  Conference  platforms,  both 


OF   MINISTERS   AND  LAYMEN.  317 

North  and  South,  was,  in  its  last  analysis,  mainly 
sentimental  and  sensational. 

If  we  have  in  this  matter  correctly  interpreted 
the  platform  and  pulpit  deliverances  of  the  vener- 
able bishop,  then  wre  must  regard  him  as  pro- 
nouncedly conservative  on  all  lines.  He  has  but 
little  patience  with  progressive  orthodoxy,  as  de- 
veloped at  Andover,  and  is  barely  tolerant  of  the 
New  South  babblement  that  crops  out  in  some 
places  and  directions.  He  loves  the  old  church, 
and  its  apostolic  doctrine  and  discipline,  nor  does 
he  love  less  the  Old  South,  with  its  sacred  tradi- 
tions. 

In  domestic  life,  the  senior  bishop  is  a  worthy 
"ensample  to  the  flock."  Three  of  his  sons  have 
entered  the  ministry,  and  are  all  gifted  and 
scholarly.  In  social  life,  he  is  affable  alike  to 
3'oung  and  old,  and  so  courtly  in  his  address  and 
conversation,  that  his  coming  is  hailed  wTith  de- 
light in  every  circle.  At  this  present  writing,  he  is 
sojourning  at  Ocean  Springs,  for  rest  and  recuper- 
ation, after  the  fatigue  and  worry  of  the  General 
Conference  session,  and  making  ready  for  his  sum- 
mer campaign  of  district  conferences. 


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